A policeman was shot by rampaging rebels last night, dying later in hospital.
Reports say that the policeman was in a vehicle when he was caught by a group
of supporters of the coup leader Geroge Speight that later rampaged through
Suva.
Several shots were fired at the vehicle, radio reported.
The armed group later trashed the local TV station, saying the station should
not have aired certain programmes.
The group then threatened staff at Radio Fiji and went on to fire shots in the
air outside the Centra Hotel where most of the foreign journalists are staying.
Meanwhile, a security guard in the central business district collapsed during
the night and later died in hospital.
The dead man is said to have been on duty at the Honson Arcade.
The Great Council of Chiefs delegation talking to coup leader George Speight
has agreed to demands, Speight's deputy prime minister Ratu Timoci Silatolu
said last night.
The meeting continues today to "iron out everything".
The 10 resolutions of the GCC have been chopped down to three, now only pertaining
to the President, the Constitution and the council of advisers, says Silatolu.
The GCC delegation is expected to take back the redefined resolutions to the
chiefs' council tomorrow.
Silatolu says the outcome of last night's meeting was positive and is now looking
forward to legitimacy of the Speight government.
A security officer guarding the Fiji TV office was injured when coup leader
George Speight's supporters stormed the station at 9pm tonight and put it off
air.
City Security Services, the company contracted to guard the TV station, confirmed
that the security officer guarding the station is in hospital. The nature of
injuries
sustained by the security officer is not known.
Meanwhile, the two radio stations are not reporting any news after apparently
receiving warnings from Speight's group. Both stations have been playing only
music for the
last couple of hours.
Police have also received a tip-off that the next target is Radio Fiji, the
only station with Fiji-wide coverage, and the Centra Suva Hotel, where a number
of foreign
journalists are currently staying.
Coup leader George Speight is a two-day wonder who who has decided to champion
indigenous rights for his own personal reasons, says political analyst Jone
Dakuvula.
"He has no real track record of fighting for indigenous rights," says
Dakuvula, a former SVT and Fiji Labour Party campaigner.
Dakuvula told Fiji TV's Close Up programme Speight's group comprised "a
bunch of people who want to get into political power through unlawful means".
"He has convinced his people because he has the gift of gab and presents
himself well. But he was running away from all sorts of things in Australia
and sacked from Fiji
Hardwood Corporation and Fiji Pine Corporation. He had a lot of grievances against
the Chaudhry Government. He was seeing that he would lose a lot of business
opportunities with this government in power. They are people like that who are
behind this coup."
" They just mobilise poor Fijians who really don’t understand what
they are doing. They are genuine but they don’t know the agenda of these
people who have actually
manipulated them to support the coup."
This site is best viewed using Netscape 4.0 or higher.
Any problems or kind suggestions, please email: webmaster@lookinglassdesign.com
last revision 5/29/00