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Fiji Military Says Hostage Talks Break down
Talks to free 30 politicians held hostage by armed Fijian nationalists since May 19 broke down on Monday and the country's military rulers said they would no longer listen to demands by rebel leader George Speight.
"There has been a deadlock in the talks between the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and George Speight and his team," military commander Frank Bainimarama said in a statement read over local radio stations.
"We will not entertain any more demands by George Speight and his men...We would like them to leave, to have the hostages released, (and to) return their arms so we can bring back some normalcy to our daily lives."
Businessman Speight, with a group of dissident soldiers and other supporters, has Fiji's first ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and most of his government hostage in Fiji's parliament in Suva. Speight claims to be acting on behalf of ethnic Fijians.
On Sunday the two sides said they had reached a draft accord and the main remaining sticking point was agreement on how long the military would rule Fiji before returning it to the control of an appointed president and an interim civilian government.
The military wants to rule Fiji for a further three months to maintain law and order while the rebels want an immediate transfer of power to indigenous tribal leaders, the Great Council of Chiefs.
The crisis, and the subsequent declaration of military rule on May 29, has hit tourism, closed schools, disrupted the sugar harvest and led Australian unions to refuse to handle cargo between the two countries.
Chaudhry's multi-racial coalition government included members of the ethnic Indian community, who make up 44 percent of Fiji's 800,000 people. They dominate the sugar sector + Fiji's second largest industry after tourism + and much of the commerce.
Military Offer Stands
Bainimarama said the deal offered by the military stood + amnesty for Speight and his core group in return for the freedom of the hostages and the return of military weapons.
The military commander said Speight and his group had no role to play in a planned interim government to rule Fiji.
"We have stated that this is not possible for one single reason + there has been a lot of talk of backlash not only from the local community but (also) the overseas community if any member of George Speight and his group is included in an interim government."
Speight's group rejected the military demands and said it would continue to hold the hostages, because it did not trust the military to stick with the deal and let the rebels go free.
"What good is making an amnesty if you are going to revoke it," the deputy prime minister of Speight's self-styled civilian government, Timoci Silatolu, told Reuters.
The talks have broken down before. On Friday the two sides issued a joint statement saying negotiations were going well and Speight said the hostages could be released over the weekend.
But the talks stopped on Saturday in a fresh round of argument between the two sides. They resumed on Sunday + Speight's second meeting with Bainimarama - but further talks on Monday never eventuated.
Military Concessions
The military has consistently said it would grant amnesty to those directly involved in taking the hostages. Speight has sought a wider amnesty covering activities directly and indirectly involved in the hostage taking.
The military has made a number of concessions to Speight, including dumping the 1997 constitution under which an ethnic Indian was elected prime minister.
Speight on Sunday spent nine hours at the army headquarters, the Queen Elizabeth Barracks on a hill overlooking Suva, drawing up the draft accord with the military government.
The military took power on May 29 with the agreement of President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who stepped aside. The reason given was the restoration of order, after the looting of central Suva on the first day of the coup in the capital Suva and the subsequent killing of a policeman and the ransacking of Fiji TV.
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