Mob loots houses, Fijians divided

6:00 PM - HERALD ONLINE STAFF

About 80 youths have stoned and ransacked homes adjacent to the parliamentary complex in Suva where George Speight continues to hold members of the deposed Fiji government hostage.

One resident of upmarket Vuya Road said the invaders took food and clothing as they trashed his home last night.

The looters returned to the parliamentary complex after their rampage but were initially refused entry. They hurled stones at the parliament gates until those inside let them back in.

During the altercation a rebel supporter was wounded by gunfire. Witnesses say a sniper from the parliamentary complex shot at a military patrol. The soldiers returned fire, hitting a man in the arm and leg. He is reportedly in stable condition in hospital.

The Fiji military says it has increased the number of soldiers at checkpoints in the area. Captain Eroni Volavola says the military has deployed its Quick Reaction Force, which will be ready to move in at the first sign of further trouble.

As discussions continue between the military government and George Speight's rebels, leaders of Fiji's Western Division say they may form their own government.

Over 500 people gathered at the chiefly village of Veiseisei, near Lautoka, to listen to traditional Fijian chiefs and Fiji Indian politicians speak of forming a non-racial government.

Many in the Western Division say their region is being ignored as the country's future is decided by the eastern-dominated Great Council of Chiefs.

The recently-deposed prime minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, and the prime minister overthrown in the first 1987 coup, Timoci Bavadra, were both from the west.

George Speight talks to IRN's Barry Soper

(10 min).