A bomb threat has forced an aircraft carrying
10 Maori activists to make an emergency
landing at Fiji's international airport.
The activists had arrived earlier to support
Fiji's coup leaders, who are still holding
hostages in Parliament, but were instead
deported by military authorities.
Diplomatic sources have confirmed the Air
New Zealand Boeing 767 had received a
bomb threat shortly after taking off from Nadi,
and that it was linked to the presence of the
activists.
The flight was about an hour into its journey to
Auckland when the captain told passengers
there had been a security threat.
Australian soccer coach Frank Farina was also
on board the plane with several of his players,
returning from a tournament in Tahiti.
"The pilot came over the air and said basically
there was a possibility that there was a bomb
on board the plane, which didn't go down too
well to be honest.
"Basically we were turning around to Nadi
airport in Fiji which took us an hour and 20
minutes to get back," he said.
Meanwhile, Fiji's military rulers have backed
away from plans to cordon off the
parliamentary compound where George
Speight is holding 27 hostages.
The military said it would set up an exclusion
zone up to two kilometres from Parliament to isolate the rebel group.
Residents in nearby streets reported they had been told to move out of
the area.
The military has increased its presence in the surrounding area, but Army
spokesman Filipo Tarakinikini says the military does not want to scare
anyone.
Fiji's former prime minister and 1997 coup leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, said he
would accept the post of president if it were offered to him.
Mr Rabuka, who led the two coups in 1987, is one of four candidates
nominated to the Great Council of Chiefs, which has previously been
responsible for appointing the president.
Military authorities want the council to choose the next president but the
coup leader, George Speight, is demanding the military sign a decree to
appoint the rebels' own nominee, Josefo Iloilo.
Mr Rabuka says he is not sure the Great Council could support him but he
would take the job if it was offered.
"They would have to go outside the creating rules that exist within the
Council of Chiefs and one of them, or the first of them is that the candidate
must be a born chief and I'm not," he said.
"But it's up to them, if they want me to be that person, I'll take it."
Mr Rabuka, says it would not be in the best interests of his country for
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to return as president.
Ratu Mara stepped down late last month when the military declared martial
law.
However, there is now growing speculation that he is lobbying the Great
Council of Chiefs to reinstate him when it decides who should take on the
role.
Rebel leader George Speight says he will not release his 27 hostages
unless former vice-president, Josefo Iloilo, is made president.
Mr Rabuka says Ratu Mara must make his intentions clear.
"I think it will be a destabilising factor on the Fijian side, particularly
with
those who are supporting George Speight and even among the chiefs
themselves," he said.
On the economic front, Fiji's manufacturing industries are beginning to return
to normal operations after the ACTU's decision to lift union bans.
But it could take a fortnight for production to reach full capacity.
The garment industry is one of Fiji's biggest export earners and Australia
one of its key customers.
But since the ACTU imposed bans on loading and unloading cargo after
last month's coup, thousand of workers lost their jobs or had their hours cut
and factories went into a slump because raw materials were left on
Australian wharves.
The ACTU has now agreed to a request from Fiji's unions to lift the bans
and production is returning to normal.
But one manufacturer says the first shipment from Australia will still take
10
days to reach Fiji and another 10 to return with the finished product.
In the meantime he says Australian buyers have turned to other suppliers
and it could be a whole season before his company restores full trade.
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