Four of the Indian hostages in Fiji's parliament have been shown on
television for the first time since being taken captive five weeks ago.
The four, the attorney-general, Mr Anand Singh, and backbenchers Mr Anup
Kumar, Mr Vinod Maharaj and Mr Deo Narayan, were shown drinking kava
with their captors in what appeared to be a forced setting.
The deposed prime minister Mr Mahendra Chaudhry, and his son, Rajendra,
who is his private secretary, were not seen on the Fiji TV footage, reportedly
filmed on Sunday. The publicly-owned station was trashed by supporters of
the rebel leader, George Speight, on May 29.
There have been persistent reports that Mr Chaudhry and his son were
bashed by a gang of drunken Speight supporters in the early days of the
coup attempt and that the Fiji Red Cross and doctors had declined to speak
out for fear of further harassment of the hostages.
In the television footage, Mr Kumar appeared to hide his face while Mr
Singh forced a smile for the camera.
A tired-looking Mr Maharaj was the most animated of the hostages,
speaking in Fijian to the people he was drinking with and thanking them for
talking to him. "This is what I want, for Indians and Fijians to unite,"
he
said.
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