Coup mob jostles soldiers at roadblock

By NAOMI LARKIN and TONY WALL

The Fiji crisis escalated last night when coup leader George Speight took his fight outside Parliament grounds, leading a 100-strong mob into a confrontation with armed soldiers.

It was the first time since the gunpoint coup eight days ago that Speight's gunmen and soldiers had clashed on the streets of Suva, and signalled a deterioration in attempts to resolve the hostage crisis.

Although no shots were fired and no one was injured, tensions reached boiling point as the frightened soldiers were jostled and pushed between Speight supporters armed with pitchforks and machetes and rebels with machine-guns.

The squad of about 12 soldiers made no move to raise their weapons or repel the group. Violence was averted only when the soldiers shook hands with Speight and the gunmen.

The supporters succeeded in removing a razor-wire roadblock which the soldiers had been manning since midday.

Speight said his group had approached the soldiers to enlist their support. "It's the start of them realising where they should be. Very soon the police will follow."

One of the soldiers, Lieutenant Isake Daulako, said: "I was concerned about my men in a crowd like this and they are armed. There is no choice - we have to give it away because it concerns our lives. If there is a gunfire, people will die."

He said that as a Fijian he supported Speight and the incident "could be" the start of the military getting involved in the coup. Speight had asked Lieutenant Daulako's squad to join him.

About an hour earlier 17 reserve soldiers led by Major Joe Savua - brother of Police Commissioner Isikia Savua - were welcomed into Parliament grounds to join Speight's cause, the first open sign of a split within the military.

Suddenly, at 6 pm, Speight and Major Savua walked out of Parliament grounds surrounded by gunmen and civilian supporters and confronted the soldiers.

Major Savua said that he supported Speight because "I'm a Fijian and it will be a good future for my children." This view was shared by many in the Army who "might join in tonight or tomorrow," he said.

Earlier, a spokesman for Speight's rebels, Peceli Rinakama, warned that there was "no turning back" after the Great Council of Chiefs turned down their calls for an amnesty, the abolition of the 1997 constitution and the removal of the President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.

There was one positive note yesterday, however, when the President's secretary, Joe Brown, was allowed to see Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and the other hostages, the first time any presidential staff had seen them.

Last night, a meeting between a delegation from the Great Council of Chiefs and Speight's group failed to break the standoff. Talks are expected to continue today.

More Fiji coup coverage

Under seige: map of the Parliament complex