Fiji coup leader George Speight has threatened that the daughter of President
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara will be the first
hostage he will personally shoot dead if the president opts for a military solution
to the crisis, the Federal Government
has revealed.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday that Ratu Mara had told him
about the threat Mr Speight had made
against his daughter, the Chaudhry Government minister Adi Koila Nailatakau.
Mr Downer described the threat as appalling and a measure of the coup leader's
personality.
He disclosed Mr Speight's threat in Canberra yesterday while foreshadowing
a range of damaging economic, trade
and sporting sanctions against Fiji. The Federal Government was now warning
Australians to leave Fiji and defer
non-essential travel to the country, Mr Downer said.
The government recommended that the Olympic torch not pass through Fiji and
had revoked Mr Speight's Australian
visa, saying he was no longer welcome here.
"You have to remember that whilst the armed forces have pledged their
loyalty to the president, Ratu Mara's daughter
is one of the hostages and Ratu Mara has apparently been told by Speight ...
that if there is any attempt militarily to
release the hostages, the first person he, Speight, will shoot will be the president's
daughter," Mr Downer said.
After a cabinet meeting dominated by the hostage crisis, Mr Downer outlined
likely sanctions against Fiji.
Cabinet also received an extensive security briefing on contingency plans to
evacuate Australians in the event of more
violence.
"We've ... reviewed a range of strong measures that we'll put in place
unless constitutional arrangements are resumed
in Fiji," Mr Downer said. "These measures will include the suspension
of the Australia-Fiji Trade and Economic
Relations Agreement, the downgrading of our aid relationship, the suspension
of forthcoming naval visits and joint
military exercises, and a thorough review of sporting contacts including, in
particular, a possible ban on the Fiji
national rugby union team from visiting Australia."
Mr Downer said cabinet wanted to avoid blanket economic sanctions against Fiji
so ordinary Fijians were not
unnecessarily harmed.
Cabinet had agreed to maintain a recent extension of the import credit scheme
that offers an incentive for Australian
clothing and footwear producers to export processed fabrics to Fiji before re-importing
the final products. Scrapping it
would cost about 8000 Fijian jobs.
Mr Downer said Australia would impose sanctions against Fiji as part of a joint
effort with New Zealand. He would
push for Fiji's expulsion from the Commonwealth at a meeting in London next
week of the Commonwealth
Ministerial Action Group.
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