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Rebel sympathiser stands guard
AP Photo |
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July 9, 2000
SUVA, Fiji
(AP) — A second hostage crisis erupted Saturday in Fiji as armed
rebels supporting coup leader George Speight seized 30 soldiers,
police and government officials in a police station outside the
capital.
A defiant
Speight said there would be more unrest until the military gives in
to his demands.
``It is going
to escalate,'' he said. ``I can predict it.''
But Speight
also offered hope of an end to the crisis that has gripped Fiji
since he and six gunmen stormed Parliament on May 19 and took the
democratically elected government hostage. The siege was aimed at
disenfranchising Fiji's ethnic Indian population and returning power
to indigenous Fijians.
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Rebels wait in police station
AP Photo |
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``It will be
resolved very soon,'' he told reporters. ``The army will see the
folly of its ways. They have completely misread a political
situation.''
Speight was
holding talks with the military late Saturday, and army spokesman
Maj. Howard Politini expressed guarded optimism they were
progressing well on a deal for ending the crisis.
``Both sides
— mind you they've said this before — feel they could sign off
on this tonight,'' Politini told The Associated Press.
On Saturday
morning, a man who said he was Speight's cousin led about 100 rebels
armed with tire irons, steel pipes and other makeshift weapons,
taking over a military checkpoint in Korovou, about 40 miles outside
Suva. They seized six rifles and stormed the police station, where
they gathered their hostages.
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Rebel watches roadblock
AP Photo |
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Speaking to
reporters outside the police station, where the new hostages
apparently were being held, Iferemi Tiko said the action was in
support of Speight. His group also demanded the resignation of
military head of state Commodore Frank Bainimarama — one of
Speight's key demands.
``This
takeover is from the people,'' said Tiko, his face covered by a ski
helmet and sunglasses.
The hostages
included local soldiers, police and government officials. Nobody was
injured and the rebels said they did not want to see bloodshed.
Also Saturday,
the U.S. Embassy in Suva said Ambassador Osman Siddique was being
recalled to the United States for consultations.
``We deplore both hostage taking and efforts to deny political
rights to citizens of Fiji,'' the embassy said in a statement.
The release
also said the United States was considering ``a range of steps ...
that could have a serious impact on Fiji.''
Tiko said he
and his supporters were ``very disappointed'' by the military's
recent tactics at Parliament, where Speight and a gang of gunmen are
holding 27 hostages including deposed Prime Minister Mahendra
Chaudhry.
The army had
given Speight and his supporters until midnight Saturday to leave
the area, but that deadline has now been shelved indefinitely while
talks to resolve the crisis are underway.
Korovou, which is close to Speight's home village, was generally
calm and most stores remained open Saturday, although there were
reports that a gang of armed men had stolen a truck after
threatening its owner.
Outside of
town, the rebels set up a roadblock made up of a refrigerator,
engine parts, a wheelbarrow and two trucks.
Tiko said the
hostages were his ``guests'' and said they were being treated well,
a claim that Speight has also made.
Days of civil
unrest across Fiji — including local landowners shutting down the
largest island's main hydroelectric power station — have shown the
depth of support for the rebels and prompted the military to restart
stalled peace talks.
The military, which took power 10 days after the coup, recently
named an all-ethnic Fijian civilian government to prepare for
elections. Bainimarama retained leadership of the country, however.
Although the
military has met most of Speight's demands to disenfranchise Fiji's
ethnic Indian minority — including deposing Chaudhry, the first
Fijian of Indian ancestry to lead the country — and scrapping the
multiracial 1997 constitution, Speight is still refusing to release
his hostages.
Fifty-one
percent of the people of Fiji are indigenous Fijians and many resent
the clout of ethnic Indians, who account for 44 percent and
dominated the ousted government.
``The coup is
all about saying we've had 30 years of democracy. We reserve the
right as Fijians in our homeland to set that aside and explore a new
model,'' Speight said.
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