SUVA, Fiji (1 Dec 2006) -- Fijian Military commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama last night gave the government a midday deadline to meet his demands or face a take-over. But as the time passed in Suva the streets were quiet with no sign of military action. There was no major activity reported at the military's base either. Radio New Zealand reported that Bainimarama, who met with President Ratu Josefa Iloilo at Government House this morning, had extended the deadline by an hour and the New Zealand Herald quoted local media saying Qarase will soon hold a press conference broadcast live around the nation. At 12.30pm local time Bainimarama visited the national stadium where the annual police versus army sports competition is still running. He made no comment to reporters. There was a small police presence on the streets in Suva at midday and traffic jams as people left the central city. With the threat of another coup in the air, the atmosphere in Suva this morning was like that ahead of the arrival of a tropical cyclone. The tension was palpable in Suva's sticky heat, along with resignation that almost nothing now will stop the military launching some kind of take-over - the fourth in 20 years to afflict Fiji. Suva people know what to do in a coup - stock up on food and cash and head home - and long lines formed outside ATM machines and at petrol stations while supermarkets were crowded. Six years ago when military commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama declared martial law, he imposed tough curfews, initially for 24 hours and then from 8pm to 7am. They lasted for months and life adjusted around it. Fiji's schools close for the summer holidays, but few students went today. In the last coup in May 2000 Suva's central business district was looted and burned. Today retailers and shop owners were out preparing storm shutters, while many shops did not open at all. Government offices were also closing. "All the Chinese are shut," a shopper near the Central Police Station said. The Chinese are recent arrivals, replacing the Indo Fijians who have mostly emigrated. With Chinese businesses destroyed in recent riots in Tonga and the Solomons, the Fiji Chinese were taking no chances. Meanwhile, acting Australian Prime Minister Mark Vaile said Australia would consider intervening in Fiji if asked to by the nation's government. Three Australian warships are currently off Fiji's coast ready to evacuate any of its own citizens. The AAP news service reported Vaile being asked on Sky TV if Australia would consider intervention if requested by Fiji. He answered: "It's a very difficult issue and one that we would have to consider very seriously ... our first concern is that of Australian nationals in Fiji." Bainimarama was not calling it a coup but angrily dismissed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's peace offerings saying they were all lies. Two weeks ago the Commodore issued a two week deadline for the government to meet 12 demands he set. These included scrapping bills pardoning 2000 coup plotters and dealing with indigenous land rights. He also wanted anybody in the government who had connections to the George Speight coup removed and he wanted the Police Commissioner, Andrew Hughes, sacked. | | In the last coup in May 2000 native Fijians looted and burned Suva's central business district and attacked tourist resorts. On Wednesday, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters acted as a mediator when Qarase and the commodore met at Government house in Wellington. While Qarase was yesterday upbeat about the outcome, Commodore Bainimarama said he had agreed to nothing. Last night he told a startled press conference that at midday today there would be a peaceful transition but urged the government not to resist. Asked if he was staging a coup or declaring martial law, he replied it was a "clean-up" campaign. While Mr Qarase had said hours before he was meeting the Commodore's demands, the military chief said of the prime minister: "I can say they are all lies, I never said yes (in Wellington). "I want all the demands met, today, in fact tomorrow (Friday), every one...everything that I demanded for must be met by midday tomorrow," he said, seemingly contriving new policy as he spoke. "We hope there will be no confrontation." In a strange backdrop to the tension, Suva's iconic nearby peak, Joske's Thumb, is obscured by a heavy pall of smoke from a Chinese fishing boat that has run aground on a harbour reef and is now on fire. With nobody aboard and no interest in fighting the fire, Suva occasionally gets a foul stench from the ship fire. Radio stations were running normal programmes although DJs were plainly trying, without much success, to reduce the tension. Commodore Bainimarama remained for much of the morning at his home; quaintly he flies a green general's pennant from a flagstaff at the entrance. He lives next door to the New Zealand High Commissioner. Government House, the official home of President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, was under heavy military guard this morning. SOURCE - StuffCDNN Related Topics FIJI - Coup imminent: Fijians brace for high noonFIJI - Tourist cancellations surge amidst fear of Fiji military coupCDNN TRAVEL ALERT - Travelers warned to avoid Fiji: 2006-11-26FIJI - Australia warns tourists not to travel to FijiFIJI - Trouble in paradise: Tourism meltdown leads to mass layoffsCDNN SPECIAL REPORT - Racism in Paradise: Fiji |
