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SUVA: Three armed Fijians, including the father of a soldier allegedly
killed by an Indo-Fijian soldier awaiting courtmartial, today seized
suburban Nabua police station in the capital Suva, according to media
reports.
Radio Fiji reported that the military negotiated an end to the incident
after a two-hour standoff at the police station, one of the largest and
best-equipped in the Pacific country.
Radio FM96 said at least six shots had been fired inside the police
station. The radio also reported that four armed men were involved.
Reports said one of the armed men was the father of a soldier shot dead
in Lebanon earlier this year, Arare Waqavonovono, who was serving with
the Fiji Islands contingent in the UNIFIL forces.
An Indo-Fijian soldier implicated in the killing was repatriated from
Lebanon a week ago and has been detained in Nabua police station cells
awaiting court-martial over the shooting.
The Nabua police station is in the same suburb as the military's Queen
Elizabeth Barracks. It is understood that the detained soldier will now
be moved there.
The Suva offices of the regional Secretariat of the Pacific Community
(SPC) are also nearby and were closed off by military and police
officers.
The Fiji Islands has been under martial law since May 29 following the
seizure of Parliament by rebel leader George Speight and a group of
gunmen 10 days earlier.
The rebels still hold hostage 31 members of the elected Fiji Labour
Party-led government of ousted Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.
Meanwhile, the Daily Post reported today that a University of the South
Pacific academic, Professor Asesela Ravuvu, had been named among
Speight's proposed line-up for an interim civilian administration in Fiji.
The newspaper said Prof Ravuvu had been named as proposed Minister for
Labour and Industrial Relations.
Former Fiji Journalism Institute training coordinator Jo Nata, who is
Speight's current media adviser, has been listed as proposed Minister
for Information and Media.
Simione Kaitani, who played a high profile role in criticism of USP's
selection process for the next vice-chancellor, is proposed as
Education, Science and Technology Minister.
However, only two of Speight's 31 nominees are understood to be
agreeable to the military.
They are said to be the Permanent Secretary for Finance and incumbent
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Savenaca Narube, and the chief
executive of Merchants Bank and former managing director of the Fiji
Development Bank, Laisenia Qarase.
They are currently serving on the interim military council.
New Zealand unions have imposed a ban on Fiji from tomorrow, disrupting
cargo to and from Fiji. This follows the earlier ban by Australian
unions.
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions president Ross Williams was quoted
on Fiji Television as saying that the council decided to impose the ban
after former president Ken Douglas reported back from a fact-finding
visit to Fiji that this was what local unions wanted.
New Zealand exports goods worth $NZ227 million a year to Fiji and
imports Fijian goods worth $66 million a year.
Pacific Chamber of Commerce president Joe Singh, who appeared on a
Close-Up television programme on the crisis and the economy last night,
said the ban would also have a major impact on other Pacific countries
because Fiji was the main entry port for island nations.
+++niuswire
Title -- 2804 FIJI: Soldiers seize police station
Date -- 19 June 2000
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pasifik Nius
Source -- USP Journalism Programme, 19/6/00
Copyright -- USP Journalism
Status -- Unabridged
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