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SUVA (Pacnews) - Authorities in Fiji have entered into intense
negotiations with the three gunmen who earlier today took over a police
station in a suburb of the capital, Suva, Pacnews reports.
The discussions between senior military officers and the gunmen came
amid assurances by the authorities that a soldier who was detained in
the besieged station is safe.
Military officers would not divulge the nature of the negotiations but
sources told Pacnews the three men would face legal charges later.
National radio reported that one policeman was shot in the arm when the
three gunmen burst into the police station a little before ten in the
morning local time.
They were apparently after Private Henry Ali, a Fiji soldier awaiting
court martial for allegedly shooting to death a fellow soldier while
doing peacekeeping duties with the United Nations Interim Forces in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) early in the year.
Leading the gunmen was Lieutenant Papu Waqavonovono, the father of the
dead soldier.
Radio Fiji said the army officer and his two accomplices could not find
Private Ali inside the police station, since the keys to Ali's detention
cell were kept by police officers who were outside when the three burst in.
The siege at one of Fiji's biggest and most modern police stations
lasted for about one and a half hours and the three gunmen only
surrendered following the intervention of a senior military officer.
A military statement on the incident identified the person as the chief
staff officer on duty at the army's Queen Elizabeth Barracks,
Lieutenant-Colonel Meli Saubulinayau.
All but one telephone lines to the police station were disconnected at
the time of the siege, the military statement said.
The police station takes up two floors of a three storey building in the
shopping suburb of Nabua. Authorities sealed off the entire shopping
centre and diverted traffic during the one and half long siege. ... PNS
+++niuswire
Title -- 2806 FIJI: Military negotiate with hostage-taker
Date -- 19 June 2000
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pasifik Nius
Source -- Pacnews, 1420, 19/6/00
Copyright -- Pacnews
Status -- Unabridged
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last revision June 19, 2000