Envoys urge release of Fiji's captive PM

Envoys urge release of Fiji's captive PM

SUVA (Reuters): Commonwealth and United Nations envoys visited Fiji's captive Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry on Wednesday and urged coup leader George Speight to free him and other hostages unconditionally.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon and the UN's Sergio Vieira de Mello met Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister, in the country's thatch-roofed parliament complex where he has been held since last Friday.

They said they found Chaudhry "in what under the circumstances could be described as good spirits, although he complained that he and his son were twice manhandled."

"Some of the hostages were clearly in anguish," the envoys said in a joint statement.

They also met Speight, a failed businessmen who stormed parliament last Friday and claimed power in the name of indigenous Fijians, accusing Chaudhry of favoring the country's economically dominant Indian minority.

A previous Indian-dominated government was overthrown by a coup in 1987.

"The message we conveyed on behalf of the Commonwealth and the United Nations was the need for the unconditional release of all the hostages and strict adherence to democratic and constitutional principles and practices in the process of resolving the ongoing crisis," the envoys said.

The shaven-headed Speight brushed aside their disapproval and that of the country's traditional chiefs on Wednesday to assure well-wishers that victory would soon be his.

The Great Council of Chiefs representing indigenous Fijians has reprimanded Speight and met again on Wednesday to decide what to do after he rejected their appeal to free his captives.

But the chiefs also rebuffed the international envoys, who sought in vain for an invitation to talk with the council.

"They sent out a message that they would be there until well past midnight and asked us not to wait for them," Vieira de Mello told a news conference.

Speight told about 200 supporters at the parliament complex: "When we get confirmation from the Great Council of Chiefs of our victory -- which I believe is soon -- then we will probably spend the next month celebrating our victory right here."

He was applauded with cheering and singing from the crowd of Fijians sitting cross-legged on one of the lawns surrounding the complex, set amid native bushland and rolling green hills.

Some of the crowd had spent time roasting the live pigs they brought with them and drinking kava, a mild narcotic.

Policemen guarding parliament since last Friday appeared to have relaxed considerably, mixing freely with Speight's men, who lounged about with semi-automatic rifles on their shoulders.

Despite Speight's obvious role, questions have arisen over who exactly is leading the coup attempt, after former Fijian Army col. Ilisoni Ligairi, the founder of the country's elite Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, was spotted in the compound.

Fiji's traditional chiefs -- numbering 50 -- were meeting on a hilltop barracks on the other side of town to consider what to do after Speight dismissed their appeal that he submit to the rule of President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.

The council was also likely to discuss if Chaudhry should be reinstated as prime minister, or if it wanted an interim government installed to consider concessions Speight has demanded for ethnic Fijians, notably on land rights.

The crisis risks scaring off tourists, who prop up Fiji's economy, and has disrupted production of sugar, the main export crop. Like the 1987 coup, it could prompt an exodus of ethnic Indians -- particularly skilled and professional workers.

Sugar union leader Jaganath Sami told Reuters on Wednesday that for the 23,000 sugar workers and farmers he represents -- most of them Indian -- "the future is very clear now. This (coup) proves Indians will have to make their way out of this country."

Mara, along with Fiji's police and military, backed Chaudhry at the start of the crisis and declared a state of emergency to quell arson and looting aimed mainly at Indian businesses.

But Mara has since hinted he might be ready to drop Chaudhry and find another prime minister to appease indigenous Fijians.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark on Wednesday welcomed the traditional chiefs' support for Mara, but rejected any removal of Chaudhry's government.