Security worries mount as Fiji seeks new government

Security worries mount as Fiji seeks new government
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

SUVA, JULY 24: Armed civilians linked to coup plotter George Speight werecausing Fiji's military `extreme concern' Monday ahead of a new bid by thetroubled south Pacific nation to establish a government.

In a surprise development, former coup leader and ex-prime minister SitiveniRabuka was being touted at high level as a compromise interim prime ministerfor the next two years. He could not be contacted about the speculation,which came as diplomatic sources told AFP there was an urgency among Fiji'sfractured leadership to name a new government. ``They are almost panickingnow,'' said one senior diplomat after a meeting with a top official involvedin trying to cobble together a leadership acceptable to both the world andSpeight. Although local media reported that the new government would benamed Tuesday, it was not possible to confirm this. Special forces soldierIlisoni Ligairi and Speight led an armed group into Fiji's parliament on May19, holding former prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his governmenthostage for 56 days.

Last week they left Parliament and now occupy a school at Kalabu near here,just off the main road to Nausori and the airport. The Fiji Military Forces(RFMF) said in a statement that it ``continues to be extremely concernedthat civilians are still in illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.''The military said it has concluded that with the occupation of Kalabu by theGeorge Speight rebel group, their illegal activities along the Suva-Nausoricorridor now pose a risk to the people in the corridor. Speight released hishostages after being granted a number of demands, including the ouster ofethnic-Indian Chaudhry, but has maintained pressure on the authorities overthe naming of a new government. Last week ailing President Josefa Iloilo,79, named caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to continue in office andQarase then named a cabinet while Speight is pushing for diplomat SamanunuCakobau, who is currently Fiji's High Commissioner to Malaysia.

However, she is unlikely to be acceptable outside of Fiji because of herclose links to Speight. She spent time in parliament while Chaudhry andothers were still being held at the point of a gun. Speight has stronglydenounced Rabuka in the past, claiming he betrayed the indigenous cause witha multiracial constitution in 1997.