2ND LD: 9 hostages released in Fiji ahead of chiefs' meeting

0 Comments | Asian Political News, July 17, 2000

SUVA, July 12 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH COMMENTS FROM REBEL SIDE, FURTHER DETAILS)

Nine of the deposed government members being held hostage by rebels in Fiji's parliament house were released early Wednesday morning and the remaining 18 will be released within the next 24 hours, rebel spokesman Joe Nata said.

"We feel that it was a gesture of goodwill and good faith to start releasing the hostages although they were not due for release until tomorrow," Nata told reporters at the parliamentary compound.

The release of the nine, mainly ethnic Indian, former government members, comes one day ahead of a deadline for the release of all the hostages under an accord signed Sunday by rebel leader George Speight and military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

Under the so-called Muanikau Accord, the hostages must be released before a meeting of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) on Thursday, which has been called to elect a new president and vice president in a bid to solve Fiji's political crisis, now in its 55th day.

Nata said the remaining hostages would be released Thursday, but it may not be until after the meeting of the 50 high chiefs from Fiji's 14 provinces, which is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. at Suva's Queen Elizabeth military barracks.

"They will be released tomorrow whether it's before or after (the GCC meeting). It's only a few hours, we've been here for eight weeks, what difference is another couple of hours?" Nata said.

"It's going to be in the cover of darkness...They have asked to be released at night because of the humiliation, they've been humiliated enough being in there," he said.

According to Fiji TV, the hostages released Wednesday include former Attorney General Anand Singh, former Investment and Commerce Minister Anup Kumar, former Minister for Works Shiu Sharan Sharma, and backbenchers Vinod Maharaj, Pradhuman Raniga, Gopal Lakshman, Leo Smith, Bill Aull and Deo Narain.

Fiji Red Cross director John Scott said he received a phone call in the early hours of the morning and the hostages were released around 2 a.m., adding that they returned to their homes following a medical checkup.

"They've had a medical checkup, which they've passed, and they're in a very satisfactory state," he said.

Military spokesman Filipo Tarakinini said the release of the nine hostages was "a step in the right direction."

"We are now into Wednesday, tomorrow's Thursday, another nine have come out today and we hope to see the rest of them tomorrow," he said.

The remaining hostages include former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who was celebrating his first anniversary as Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister when armed gunmen led by Speight -- a failed businessman facing fraud charges -- stormed parliament on May 19 in the name of indigenous Fijian rights.

Despite the prospect of an imminent resolution to the crisis, civil unrest by rebel supporters has increased across Fiji.

In the latest incident, about 40 traditional landowners occupied the grounds of the Nausori Airport, which services the capital Suva, early Wednesday morning.

The protesters, who own the land which is leased to the airport, are calling for a change in the airport's management.

A military delegation is currently negotiating with the group, and airport managers said flights in and out of Naussori are continuing as usual.

Earlier, five police officers were wounded when rebel supporters stormed a police station in Labasa, a town on Fiji's second largest island Vanua Levu.

Military spokesman Howard Politini said the armed group, led by soldiers who support Speight, took over the police station around 5:45 a.m. with a burst of gunfire.

Radio Fiji reported that 11 hostages are being held in the station.

Meanwhile, 42 guests have been evacuated from the Turtle Island Resort on Nanuyalevu Island off the northwest coast of Fiji's main island Viti Levu, after it was stormed by around 40 local landowners Tuesday afternoon.

The resort's owners are being held hostage in a dispute over land ownership.

Nata said most of the civil unrest across Fiji was being carried out by supporters of Speight's cause.

"What is happening out there is the independent actions of a group of people who are sympathetic to our cause...(but) some are taking advantage of the situation to push their own agenda," Nata said.

"After tomorrow we'll probably give out a signal to our supporters to lay off and then we'll know who our supporters are and who are the opportunists," he said.