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Fiji Military Excludes Rebels from New Government
Fiji's military said on Wednesday in Suva it would set up an interim civilian government after indigenous rebels defied an ultimatum to lay down their weapons and free 27 hostages or be excluded from a future administration.
The military decided to create the interim administration within a week and retain executive power until ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and 26 other political hostages were released unharmed, adding it still hoped for a peaceful resolution to Fiji's five-week crisis.
"The military government will now take serious steps towards drawing up a list of ministers to run an interim government for the country for the next 24 months," military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini said.
Rebel leader George Speight said a civilian government overseen by the military "seemed a pointless act of desperation" and refused to comment on whether the move would harm his cause to rid ethnic Indians -- who comprise 44 percent of Fiji's population -- of political power.
"We won't be threatened by what they ( the military) say," Speight told reporters.
Tarakinikini said there would be no place in the interim administration for Speight and his group, but said the military was still open to talks with the rebels after negotiations stalled on Sunday.
"Our aim is still to find a peaceful resolution," he told reporters. "Although the deadline is passed, the door for negotiation will remain open."
The Fiji crisis began when gunmen led by Speight stormed parliament on May 19, taking the prime minister and much of his cabinet hostage.
Fiji's economy has been crippled as a result of the five-week crisis, with sugar production halted, tourist resorts closing and thousands of jobs lost.
The Fiji Trade Union Congress has stopped calling for international trade sanctions in protest of the coup in order to help reverse the "rapid destruction of the Fiji economy".
The FTUC had previously asked other countries to join Australian unions in refusing to handle cargo to or from Fiji until the hostages were freed and democracy restored.
An emergency budget aims to cut public spending by $200 million (fiji dollars) by December.
Security was earlier beefed up in Fiji's capital Suva after bomb threats and as the deadline -- brought forward to noon local time (2400 GMT) from 6 p.m. (0600 GMT) -- passed.
The military has repeatedly said martial law in the island nation would continue for two years unless the rebels freed Chaudhry, an ethnic Indian, and the other members of his multi-ethnic coalition government.
Tarakinikini said that over the next two years, they would need to review the constitution, prepare for general elections and restore economic stability.
Military law was declared on May 29 in an attempt to stem sporadic outbreaks of violence by Speight supporters around Suva.
Tarakinikini said the military's offer of amnesty still stood for Speight and his core group of supporters but would not extend to others who may have committed other criminal offences during the crisis.
"All criminal activities that happened outside of the act of treason will be subject to police investigations and must face the due process of law," Tarakinikini said.
Two schools in the Suva area have been evacuated in the last two days after bomb threats and a caller to a radio show late on Tuesday said Suva would be set ablaze if the military carried out its ultimatum, local radio reported.
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