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SUVA - Fiji's defiant military chief gathered his top officers for talks on Sunday after the prime minister he has threatened to remove softened his stand in a crisis that had raised fears of a fourth coup in 20 years.
Commander Frank Bainimarama returned from overseas on Saturday, three weeks after warning Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to drop two contentious pieces of legislation or be forced from office.
Qarase said on Saturday that a key provision that would have given amnesties to some of those behind a May 2000 coup by armed indigenous nationalists had been dropped from one of the bills.
Military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni said Bainimarama was gathering his senior officers for talks at the military's Queen Elizabeth Barracks headquarters outside Suva before responding.
A week ago Qarase vowed to "deal with" the outspoken military chief but the military in turn rebuffed an attempt by Qarase to replace Bainimarama.
The stand-off had raised fears of a fourth coup in the South Pacific island nation since 1987, although both Qarase and the military have played down the risk of more upheaval.
Leweni said all senior officers had been told to attend the talks, including former Land Forces Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Ratu Meli Saubulinayau, who Qarase unsuccessfully tried to appoint in place of Bainimarama on Tuesday.
Saubulinayau, who fell out with Bainimarama while serving in Iraq last year, turned down Qarase's offer.
Qarase hopes to have talks with Bainimarama early this week before a meeting of the Great Council of Chiefs.
The council represents Fiji's 14 provinces run by chiefs who are the nation's ultimate powerbrokers and has been called on to find a solution to the crisis.
The stand-off between Qarase and Bainimarama, who installed Qarase as interim leader in the middle of the 2000 coup, has rattled Fiji and alarmed neighbours Australia and New Zealand, as well as the United States and Britain.
Bainimarama accuses Qarase's government, re-elected in May for a second five-year term, of being too soft on those behind the 2000 coup.
While Suva remains calm, police have increased their presence around the capital and armed troops ramped up tension by holding exercises on Friday.
Trouble still looms over the second piece of legislation, the "Qoliqoli Bill" that would enshrine indigenous ownership of coastal land currently owned by the government.
Bainimarama fears the bill will increase uncertainty over the leases on coastal land often taken up by holiday resorts and hotels, thereby potentially damaging the fragile economy.
The May 2000 coup, led by failed businessman George Speight, devastated the tourism and sugar-based economy and Qarase has said more upheaval in the former British colony would be "a disaster".
- REUTERS
