Sierra Leone, Fiji: Suva: Government Minister Held Hostage
(31 Dec 2000) SIERRA LEONE
Protesters clash with troops
British forces landing
British troops along and in town by roadside
Refugees along
Militiamen and troops
Re-taking of Masaika, jubilant militiamen cheering
Leader Scorpion
Scorpion being hailed as hero
Helicopter in rescue mission and landing
Injured on stretcher
British troops chatting and drinking water
FIJI: SUVA: GOVERNMENT MINISTER HELD HOSTAGE
Palm trees at isolated beach
Fighting in Suva outside parliament compound, camera falling to ground
Guards outside parliament compound where hostages held
Speight supporters marching through streets
George Speight speaking:
In words: I did this in order to -
Outwords: - one hundred and twenty-six years ago.
Indians in factory
Deposed Indian PM Mahendra Chowdary
Release of Chowdary and car away
Exterior parliament building
New President Ratu Josefa Iloilo
Speight onto bus after being arrested
Deserted hotel and beaches
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Fijian Minister for Housing informs Parliament on the status of the building industry
Fijian Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Local Government, Housing and Community Development, Hon. Premila Kumar updated Parliament on the status of the building industry in the country and what types of development applications are being received and the numbers on 6th August, 2019.
Ministers gather at PM's house, troops arrive at gate, s'bite
1. Vehicle leaving compound
2. Wide of people inside prime minister's compound behind the gates
3. Police opening gates of compound to allow vehicle to leave
4. Set up shot of Christian pastor Sepesa Niunataiwaiu arriving at compound
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sepesa Niunataiwaiu, Christian pastor:
We support him (Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase)
Q: How are his spirits today?
He's alright, he's alright. He has been chosen by the people and that's why we support him. The church is a whole. God bless you.
Q: Did the Prime Minister ask you to come and visit and pray with him?
No, it's just my own volition and I feel that the Holy Spirit led me to him.
6. Unidentified man arriving at compound
7. Female prime ministerial aide in pink shirt arriving arriving at compound carrying cabinet papers
8. Fijian police talking inside compound, zoom in man
9. Various of ministers arriving at the compound
10. Wide of woman and child in the distance inside the gates of the compound
11. Close up of police locking gates and man walking away
12. Mid of soldiers arriving at gates of compound
STORYLINE:
Ministers started coming in small numbers to Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's house for meetings on Tuesday morning, after troops surrounded government buildings in the Fijian capital and seized official cars from ministers to try to force the government to resign.
Christian pastor, Sepesa Niunataiwaiu said on arriving at compound that he supported Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, adding that Qarase was ''alright.''
''He has been chosen by the people and that's why we support him,'' Niunataiwaiu said.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, whose residence was visited by armed soldiers on Tuesday morning, told New Zealand's National Radio, that there was virtually a coup taking place.
Qarase has refused to meet Armed forces chief, Commodore Frank Bainimarama's key demand that he resign, prompting Bainimarama to order a gradual lockdown of the capital, Suva, since early on Monday.
On Monday soldiers emptied two police armouries.
Armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama has been threatening to clean up the government for weeks.
Bainimarama wants the government to kill legislation that would grant pardons to conspirators in the 2000 coup, and quash two other land rights bills he says unfairly favour majority indigenous Fijians.
Fiji, with about 900-thousand people, is among the richest and most developed in the South Pacific, attracting up to 400-thousand tourists a year to resorts built on idyllic beaches mostly in the country's west, away from Suva.
A coup would be the fourth in 19 years for Fiji, which has lurched from one political crisis to the next.
The military twice grabbed power in 1987 to ensure political supremacy for indigenous Fijians among a population that includes a large ethnic Indian minority.
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FIJI: COUP ARMY LEADER BAINIMARAMA SPEAKS
Natural Sound
Fiji's new military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama said on Wednesday that he will not use force to free government hostages being held by armed rebels inside parliament.
Instead officials would try to win their freedom through negotiations.
As he spoke, armed supporters of Fiji's coup leader stoned cars and beat their drivers in the capital outside the parliament complex, and police and soldiers did little to stop them.
At a press conference Wednesday Fiji's new military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama said he was assured that he had the support of the Fijian people.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
I know for certain that we have the support of the people of Fiji. Not so much support for what we did in removing his Excellency The President, or throwing away the constitution. The support for the actions that we have taken to move us forward, to bring back stability and to bring back some normalcy into our lives.
SUPER CAPTION: Commodore Frank Bainimarama, army leader
Bainimarama throw out the nation's constitution Tuesday and began negotiating with armed rebels whose seizure of the prime minister and other hostages has sparked ethnic and political turmoil in this Pacific nation.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
We are continuing dialogue with Speight and his men. Last night my senior officers returned and it seems that they keep avoiding the issue of hostages. We want to tell them that there is no need to hold those people as hostages. They're no longer the government, we are the government.
SUPER CAPTION: Commodore Frank Bainimarama, army leader
Speight has had Fiji's leaders in a stranglehold since May 19, when he and six other masked gunmen stormed parliament and took the officials hostage.
The country's military proclaimed martial law and took control of Fiji on Monday but has since accepted virtually all of Speight's demands.
Despite these concessions, Speight has not released his hostages, including former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who was removed from power at Speight's demand.
On Wednesday, the rebels again rejected the military's newly appointed prime minister.
Bainimarama said he would take the president's powers himself and named Ratu Epeli Nailatikau as prime minister.
Nailatikau is a former army commander and husband of former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's daughter, Adi Koila Mara.
She is among the hostages inside parliament.
Speight and his followers again rejected this prime minister candidate saying they would not accept Nailatikau but have not put forward any names.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
I don't know if any of them has the courage to go up and stand and talk on behalf of Fijians after holding guns to hostages. I'm sorry to say that I don't see any of them as being the prime minister of (?).
SUPER CAPTION: Commodore Frank Bainimarama, army leader
As Bainimarama spoke growing violence in the streets from Speight supporters threatened the city.
Attacks, which seemed to target Fiji's ethnic Indian minority, men armed with automatic rifles and others carrying clubs and knives dragged drivers out of their cars close to parliament before robbing them and taking the vehicles.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
And then he pulled the door and he pulled me out from there. And he took my money, my income, my pass money around about forty five dollars. Yep. And he took the key and his sat down in the car and drove it to the complex.
SUPER CAPTION: Taxi driver
Heavily armed soldiers, who are manning roadblocks throughout the capital, Suva, did not
immediately intervene.
Speight has rejected Bainimarama's authority and refused a face-to-face meeting.
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FIJI: COUP: HOSTAGE CRISIS LATEST
English/Nat
XFA
A second hostage crisis erupted on Saturday in Fiji as armed rebels supporting coup leader George Speight seized 30 soldiers, police and government officials in a police station outside Suva.
And a defiant Speight said there would be more unrest until the military gave in to his demands.
But Speight also offered hope of an outcome to the crisis that has gripped Fiji since he and six gunmen stormed
Parliament on May 19 and took the democratically elected government hostage.
Earlier on Saturday, a spokesman for the second gang of hostage takers, Iferemi Tiko, told reporters he was a
cousin of Speight and that the latest action was in support of Speight's aims to disenfranchise ethnic Indians.
Tiko led about 100 rebels armed with tire irons, steel pipes and other makeshift weapons who took over a military
checkpoint in Korovou, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) outside Suva, at 8:30 a-m (2030 GMT Friday) before
confiscating six M-16 rifles and storming the town's small police station.
The rebels demanded the resignation of military head of state Commodore Frank Bainimarama, one of Speight's key demands.
The hostages included local soldiers, police and government officials.
Nobody was injured and the rebels said they did not want to see bloodshed.
Tiko said he and his supporters were very disappointed by the military's recent tactics at Parliament, where
Speight and a gang of gunmen are holding 27 hostages including deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.
The army had given Speight and his supporters until midnight Saturday to leave the area, but that deadline has
now been shelved indefinitely while talks to resolve the crisis are underway.
They also shot and wounded five Speight supporters in a gun battle on Tuesday.
Korovou, which is close to Speight's home village, was generally calm and most shops remained open.
The rebels set up a roadblock outside town made up of a refrigerator, engine parts, a wheelbarrow and two trucks.
Tiko described the hostages as his guests and said they were being treated well - which is how Speight also
describes his hostages.
Also on Saturday, Speight supporters closed the main road between Fijian capital Suva and Nadi, where the country's international airport is located.
The army appealed for calm on national radio and insisted they were still in control.
Days of civil unrest across Fiji - including local landowners shutting down the largest island's main hydroelectric power station - have shown the depth of support for the rebels and prompted the military to restart stalled peace talks.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
We are just holding them town. You must be aware we've taken the town and I've just heard the Queen's Road has been closed now we are blocking off the King's Road.
SUPER CAPTION: Iferemi Tiko, Speight supporter
SOUNDBITE: (English)
We all disagree with this interim government, we disagree with it. We believe in the cause which George Speight is taking, because that cause is for all of us.
SUPER CAPTION: Iferemi Tiko, Speight supporter
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The free wills of our Fijian people who've been waiting very patiently and impassively for the dialogues and talks to take place since they've reached an impasse, well the thing the military has always been saying from day one is that they've always questioned the support of the people so I've always been saying OK, if you really want to test it just go on and it's going to escalate as the hours go by.
SUPER CAPTION: George Speight, rebel leader
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: George Speight, rebel leader
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WRAP Military dissolves parliament, deposed ministers meet outside
SHOTLIST
1. Various of soldiers walking past windows of Senate building during Senate's weekly session
2. Medium of lawmakers in weekly Senate session
3. Medium of President of Senate (UPSOUND: (English) I adjourn the house now until nine-thirty tomorrow morning, Thursday the 7th of December 2006. The house is now adjourned.
4. Wide of lawmakers preparing to leave senate
5. Wide of soldier standing guard in Senate compound
6. Lawmakers leaving Senate
7. Soldier standing guard in doorway to Senate
8. Soldiers walking towards door
9. Wide of empty Senate, pan to soldier standing outside
10. Close-up of soldier closing door to Senate
11. Medium of soldiers walking down steps of Senate
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lavinia Wainiqolo Padarath, Fijian senator:
This is why I say it is a sad day for Fiji, nobody wants it (coup). But then we'll just have to wait and see. Nobody has the power right now but the military, to do anything. We'll see what takes place next.
13. Various of soldiers guarding Senate compound
(FIRST RUN 0430 NEWS UPDATE - 6 DECEMBER 2006)
14. Various of Cabinet members drinking tea during meeting at Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's house
15. Pan from trees to Cabinet members
STORYLINE:
Fiji's military ruler declared a state of emergency and swore in his choice of caretaker prime minister on Wednesday, as the police chief and the ousted elected leader urged peaceful resistance to defy the coup.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who seized power on Tuesday by claiming presidential powers and dismissing the elected government, swore in political novice Dr Jona Senilagakali as caretaker prime minister at a ceremony at the main military barracks in the capital, Suva.
Bainimarama ordered the state of emergency, saying a security cordon would immediately be set up around Suva, check points established at strategic points in the city, and that all military reserves would be marched into military camps to support the regime.
Earlier on Wednesday, Fijian Senators met in the legislature and continued their weekly session until troops entered the house and told the lawmakers to end the sitting, which they did.
Soldiers were seen walking around the Senate compound before entering the house and closing the session.
The president of the Senate adjourned the session until Thursday morning.
The senators then left the compound and soldiers closed the house.
It is a sad day for Fiji, nobody wants it (the coup), said Fijian senator, Lavinia Wainiqolo Padarath. Nobody has the power right now but the military, to do anything. We'll see what takes place next.
Meanwhile, later on Wednesday, Cabinet members gathered at Qarase's house for a meeting to discuss what their next move would be.
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Military dissolves parliament, troops occupy parliament building
SHOTLIST
1. Various of soldiers walking past windows of Senate building during Senate's weekly session
2. Medium of lawmakers in weekly Senate session
3. Medium of President of Senate (UPSOUND: (English) I adjourn the house now until nine-thirty tomorrow morning, Thursday the 7th of December 2006. The house is now adjourned.
4. Wide of lawmakers preparing to leave senate
5. Wide of soldier standing guard in Senate compound
6. Lawmakers leaving Senate
7. Soldier standing guard in doorway to Senate
8. Soldiers walking towards door
9. Wide of empty Senate, pan to soldier standing outside
10. Close-up of soldier closing door to Senate
11. Medium of soldiers walking down steps of Senate
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lavinia Wainiqolo Padarath, Fijian senator:
This is why I say it is a sad day for Fiji, nobody wants it (coup). But then we'll just have to wait and see. Nobody has the power right now but the military, to do anything. We'll see what takes place next.
13. Various of soldiers guarding Senate compound
STORYLINE:
Fijian Senators met in the legislature on Wednesday and continued their weekly session until troops entered the house and told the lawmakers to end the sitting, which they did.
Soldiers were seen walking around the Senate compound before entering the house and closing the session.
The president of the Senate adjourned the session until Thursday morning.
Lawmakers then left the compound and soldiers closed the house.
Fiji entered its first day after a military coup on Wednesday (Tuesday evening, GMT) with relative calm on the streets, while soldiers manned checkpoints around the city.
Army Commander General Frank Bainimarama seized control of the government on Tuesday evening after weeks of feuding with the government of Prime Minister Laisenie Qarase.
The army has been on the streets of the capital Suva since Monday, and will stay at barricades for the next four days, or until their Commander is satisfied that no resistance will arise.
It is a sad day for Fiji, nobody wants it (the coup), said Fijian senator, Lavinia Wainiqolo Padarath. Nobody has the power right now but the military, to do anything. We'll see what takes place next.
Bainimarama appointed a new Prime Minister and was expected to meet on Wednesday with those he has appointed to run the various ministries.
Bainimarama said he seized power because Qarase's government had refused to kill three bills the military leader said were unconstitutional because they offered pardons to plotters in a 2000 civilian nationalist coup and handed indigenous Fijians coastal land rights.
Fiji suffered two earlier military coups in 1987.
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State of emergency declared, military swears in new PM, parliament dissolved
(6 Dec 2006) SHOTLIST
1. Soldiers on back of pickup truck, pan right to soldiers standing near gate with onlookers
2. Soldiers walking around the city
3. People looking on
4. Various of soldiers patrolling streets
5. Fiji's military ruler Commodore Frank Bainimarama and Fiji's new caretaker Prime Minister Jona Senilagakali walking into swearing-in ceremony
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jona Senilagakali, Fiji's caretaker Prime Minister:
(I Jona) Senilagakali, the appointed caretaker Prime Minister, do swear that I will to the best of my judgement, at all times, ensure that I will freely give my counsel and advice to the president or any other person for the time being lawfully performing the function of their office for the good management of the public affairs of Fiji.
7. Cutaway of priest
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jona Senilagakali, Fiji's caretaker Prime Minister:
I'll be a true and faithful caretaker Prime Minister, so help me God.
9. Senilagakali signing swearing-in documents
10. Bainimarama signing document
11. Wide of Bainimarama news conference
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Frank Bainimarama, Fiji's military ruler:
Therefore it is with great reluctance that I, in the temporary capacity that I have assumed under the doctrine of necessity, proclaim the state of emergency as provided for under section 187 of the constitution.
13. Senilagakali listening
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Frank Bainimarama, Fiji's military ruler:
I reiterate that the military will suppress very quickly any uprising against us. The military is staying the course that we have set, and we will never give up the fight.
15. Audience applauding
16. Soldiers walking past windows of Senate building during Senate's weekly session
17. Lawmakers in weekly Senate session, soldier passing by window of room
18. Soldier passing lawmakers leaving Senate
19. Tracking shot of soldiers walking towards door
20. Soldiers inside empty Senate
21. Close-up of soldier locking door to Senate
22. Medium of soldiers walking down steps of Senate
23. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lavinia Wainiqolo Padarath, Fijian senator:
It is a sad day for Fiji, nobody wants it (coup). But then we'll just have to wait and see. Nobody has the power right now but the military.
(FIRST RUN 0430 NEWS UPDATE - 6 DECEMBER 2006)
24. Various of Cabinet members drinking kava (traditional Fijian drink) during meeting at Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's house
25. Pan from trees to Cabinet members
STORYLINE:
The streets of Fijian capital, Suva, were tense but calm a day after the country's military ruler Frank Bainimarama seized power from Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, and declared a state of emergency.
There was a heavy military presence on the streets on Wednesday morning after the country's fourth coup in 20 years as Bainimarama used self-appointed powers to swear in an elderly military medic and political novice, Doctor Jona Senilagakali, as caretaker prime minister.
But he said his plan for the appointment of a full interim government was on hold because Fiji's powerful council of tribal chiefs had cancelled a meeting scheduled for next week that he had hoped would endorse a caretaker government.
A day after he seized power, Bainimarama accused Qarase of inciting people to rise against the military by declaring his takeover illegal, and said he had declared a state of emergency after receiving intelligence that some people were planning civil disruption.
He said the military wanted a peaceful transition of power to an interim administration and eventually elections that would restore democracy.
But should we be forced to use force, let me state that we will do so very quickly, he said after the swearing in ceremony at the main military barracks in the capital, Suva.
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Qarase sworn in as new prime minister
1. Vehicles arriving at President's house
2. Close-up of the Fiji flag
3. Laisenia Qarase getting out of car
4. Wide shot of Boron House, where ceremony was held
5. Presidential advisors entering building
6. Security outside
7. Wide shot of prayers being said for new government
8. Laisenia Qarase (on right) with wife, Leba Lareti (left)
9. Wide shot of prayers
10. Various of Laisenia Qarase sitting praying
11. Two Members of Parliament praying
12. Wide shot of photo opportunity
13. Various of photo opportunity with Laisenia Qarase on left and President Ratu Josefa Iloilo on right
14. Wide shot of Laisenia Qarase approaching podium
15. Cutaway of media
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Laisenia Qarase, Prime Minister of Fiji:
I feel privileged and honoured to be appointed prime minister. I feel humbled by the tremendous support that has been shown to my party in particular and to other parties as well, by the people of Fiji.
17. Cutaway of media
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Laisenia Qarase, Prime Minister of Fiji:
Fiji should have a fairly stable government during the next five years and beyond and we would welcome investors both from within Fiji and of course from outside.
19. Wide shot of news conference, tilts up to show president's house
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Laisenia Qarase, Prime Minister of Fiji:
I've made it no secret that I would be happy if he does not accept.
21. Close-up of Laisenia Qarase's hands
22. Qarase talking to advisors then leaving - walking past camera
STORYLINE:
Indigenous Fijian banker, Laisenia Qarase, was installed on Monday as Fiji's new prime minister.
The appointment has returned the racially divided Pacific nation to democratic rule, 16 months after a nationalist coup toppled its last elected government.
Caretaker prime minister since the May 2000 coup, Qarase, was sworn in by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo at Government House, a sprawling colonial mansion overlooking Suva lagoon.
After the brief, low-key ceremony, Qarase said, I feel privileged and honored to be appointed prime minister.
Qarase continued by saying Fiji, should have a fairly stable government during the next five years and beyond.
The new prime minister's indigenous Fijian-dominated Cabinet was expected to be sworn in on Wednesday.
His appointment effectively gives the hardline nationalist coup plotters what they were demanding - a return of political power to indigenous Fijians.
Qarase's Fijian United Party, or SDL, won 31 seats in Fiji's 71-seat parliament.
On Monday he was still in the process of finalising a coalition agreement with a group of six moderate lawmakers.
Last year's coup ousted Mahendra Chaudhry, the first prime minister from Fiji's 44-percent ethnic Indian minority.
Indians were first brought to the country in the 19th century to work in sugar cane fields.
Many indigenous Fijians, who make up 51 percent of the country's 820-thousand people, believe the ethnic Indian minority wields too much political and economic clout.
Chaudhry's ethnic-Indian dominated Fiji Labor Party, took 27 seats in recent elections - well short of a majority and 10 fewer than its 1999 winning tally.
However, under Fijian law, any party winning more than eight seats must be offered Cabinet posts and Labor could complicate the government's formation by taking up a number of Cabinet jobs.
Qarase said he would be happy if Chaudhry did not accept an invitation to join the government saying the government would become unworkable if he does.
But Chaudhry has refused to rule out demanding Cabinet posts.
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PM Narendra Modi addresses Fiji Parliament in Suva
India PM Narendra Modi has addressed Fiji Parliament in Suva during his visit to the country as a part of three-nation tour. During the tour he has also addressed Australian Parliament and Indian diaspora at Allphones Arena in Sydney.
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Fiji Parliament: Behind The Scenes
A behind-the-scenes documentary on what Fiji's Parliament does, told through interviews with key Parliamentarians and Parliament staff. Interweaving historical footage with footage inside Parliament's private chambers, this documentary aims to help the public understand the way Parliament operates.
FIJI: COUP: HOSTAGE CRISIS LATEST
English/Nat
XFA
Rebels holding 27 people in Fiji's Parliament have raised a handmade flag in a show of defiance after the Fijian army said it would restrict access to the parliamentary compound.
The army is also offering an amnesty to any rebels who walk out of the compound before midnight on Friday.
Talks between the rebels and the government are believed to have started for the first time in the seven week hostage crisis in the presence of a United Nations official.
As the seventh week of the Fiji hostage crisis inside parliament drags on, there were possible signs of progress on Thursday.
A first round of talks between the rebels and the military is believed to be underway, according to the rebels' spokesman.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
There has always been informal communication between us and the military and this I imagine would be the first. It is still unofficial though but it could be significant in the sense that they've actually met face to face with their representatives. We're not too sure though in what capacity he is here. He's a member of the Security Council but whether he has a mandate or instructions from them I don't know.
SUPER CAPTION: Jo Nata, Rebel Spokesman
Just over half of the population in these South Pacific islands are indigenous to Fiji and many of them resent the economic and political clout of the Fijian Indians, who account for just under half of the population.
The Fijian Indians had dominated the government until it was overthrown on May 19 in a coup.
The military had said it would stop people from entering the Parliament complex at midnight on Wednesday.
One reason for the roughly two-square-kilometre military exclusion zone is to reduce the impact of the rebels' civilian backers which the Fijian army say are being used as human shields.
But enforcement of the total exclusion zone was lax, with supporters of rebel leader George Speight being allowed in on Thursday afternoon.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
They said they were going to stop people coming in and there's been an advertisement in the paper today that people will be stopped from coming in and out, but as you can see people are still coming in.
SUPER CAPTION: Jo Nata, Rebel Spokesman
Rebel leader George Speight has warned the hostages could be harmed if the military
stops the fairly free access or cuts off utilities.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who assumed power 10 days after the coup, has been reluctant to take strong action as long as no harm came to any of the hostages.
They include deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, the first Fijian of Indian ancestry to lead the country.
Many in the military support the coup's stated objective of giving indigenous Fijians priority over ethnic Indians.
Indians have gained economic and political clout since being brought in by the colonialist British in the 19th century as indentured workers at lucrative sugar cane plantations.
But George Speight has scorned the installation of an all-Fijian government on Tuesday that promised to start the process of rewriting the 1997 multiracial constitution.
He still demanded his choice for prime minister and doubted the new Cabinet would be in power for long.
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Reservist troops on parade as political tension mounts
SHOTLIST
1. Ministers walking into parliament building for budget meeting
2. Security at parliament building gates, various of cars going in
3. Fiji prime minister Laisenia Qarase drinking
4. Wide shot of Queen Elizabeth barracks
5. Close-up of soldiers
6. Captain Esala Teleni walking
7. SOUNDBITE (English): Captain Esala Teleni, Fiji's Acting Defence Chief:
For me you can exchange heated arguments, my policy after that is over. I don't see that as a threat to me. We will keep pressuring the government about the bill, and pressuring doesn't mean using force. But as I said, I am now glad that the prime minister, I met with him this morning, and he's opened dialogue.
8. Close-up of soldiers' guns
9. Wide shot of soldiers
10. Close-up soldier's uniform
11. Wide shot line of soldiers
STORYLINE
Fiji's acting defence chief told troops on Friday that the army has no plans to stage a coup, amid mounting international concern that a row between the premier and military could topple the South Pacific nation's government.
Captain Esala Telani told a parade of 1-thousand reservists in the capital Suva that the military is Fiji's last bastion of law and order.
Telani, standing in for renegade Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who is overseas, addressed the troops after 3-thousand reservists were called into camp midweek to conduct exercises in the streets.
Bainimarama has urged Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to resign and issued vague threats of violence.
International observers fear their bitter standoff is edging Fiji toward its fourth coup since 1987.
The US, Australia and New Zealand have expressed support for Qarase's government and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Thursday that countries in the region are doing everything possible to try and prevent a coup.
On Friday, up to a thousand troops in full battle dress marched through the city in groups during the night.
We will keep pressuring the government about the bill, and pressuring doesn't mean using force, Telani said at the nation's main Queen Elizabeth barracks.
Bainimarama, visiting Fijian peacekeepers in the Middle East, warned on Thursday of bloodshed and violence if Qarase's government refuses to resign over his allegation that they were lenient toward the instigators of the last coup in 2000.
The vague threat came after Qarase, elevated to power in a peace deal struck by Bainimarama to end the last coup staged by armed civilians, attempted on Tuesday to depose the military chief while he was visiting Fijian peacekeepers in Iraq.
Qarase was thwarted by senior military officers who would not accept a replacement.
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FIJI: POLICE STATION RAID
Natural Sound
Tension escalated in the Fijian capital of Suva on Monday when three men stormed a police station and attempted to kill a prisoner.
The men were led by the father of a Fijian soldier who was shot and killed by a colleague during peacekeeping duties in Lebanon earlier this year.
The suspect of the killing in Lebanon is of ethnic Indian origin and the incident reflects the ethnic tensions currently engulfing the South Pacific nation.
Road blocks were quickly set up during the short crisis in Fiji's capital Suva.
Police surrounded the station at Nabua ready for any eventuality.
News quickly spread of the siege and passersby gathered to watch as the day's drama unfolded.
Local radio reported that eyewitnesses described hearing six shots as the three men raided the building.
The raiders had gone in with the intention of killing a prisoner who shot and killed a fellow soldier during peacekeeping duties in Lebanon earlier this year.
But after a couple of hours the crisis was over and the father of the Fijian soldier who led the raid was taken into custody by soldiers.
There were not reports of injuries though the condition of the suspect was not immediately known.
The attack was unrelated to the hostage crisis currently engulfing Fiji, although it underscores ethnic tensions in Fiji which form a background to the crisis.
The victim of the killing in Lebanon was an indigenous Fijian, the suspect was of ethnic Indian descent.
Fiji, a cluster of islands about 3,620 kilometres (2,250 miles) northeast of Sydney, Australia is still in the grip of a coup.
Failed businessman George Speight and an armed gang claiming to be fighting for the rights of Fiji's indigenous majority are holding 31 hostages in parliament including deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and other members of his government.
Speight seeks a new government that denies the ethnic Indian minority political power.
Resentment is high among Fijians against the large Indian minority that dominates business.
On Saturday, the country's military rulers said Speight's group would be represented on a committee being formed to redraw Fiji's constitution - a process aimed at stripping ethnic Indians of political power.
The military regime's plan is for the interim government to oversee the recasting of the constitution, then hold a general election.
The process would take about two years.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand have said they will slap sanctions on Fiji if it does not return to full democracy.
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Fijian Attorney General Announces FEA bonus payout at the FEA office in Suva
A total of $1.48million will be paid as bonus payout to 735 staff members of the Fiji Electricity Authority.
This announcement was made by the Attorney-General, Hon.Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at the Fiji Electricity Authority office in Suva today.
“I would like to thank you for your contribution towards the performance of FEA where today we are announcing a bonus payout of $1.48m,” Hon. Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“We recognize the individuals based on the level of their input and productive capacity as well as the output of FEA.
“The bonus of $1.48m is a substantial amount; they will go down to the salary and wage earners, then, of course, the unit line managers and management.”
AG said that Fiji is in a very important space and that, of course, is that Fiji is the President of COP23.
“Fiji has made a pledge that we will reduce our carbon footprint by 2030, FEA plays a critical role to fulfill this request and as COP23 President, Fiji has engaged in a few projects.”
“Electricity is very critical also in terms of improving the quality of our life but important in economic development in terms of creating more job opportunities, setting up factories, setting up manufacturing plants, setting up hotels and even offices, the AG said.
“The Government recognizes the critical role and, the Government, through the people of Fiji, must continue to play a key role in the electricity sector.”
The AG also thanked the FEA workers and management for the immense effort in providing electricity to all Fijians.
Street scenes in Suva, vox pops, Prime Minister's supporters
++ AUDIO AS INCOMING ++
1. Various of supporters of Prime Minister Lainesie Qarase singing hymns
2. Wide of soldiers outside Qarase's home
3. Soldiers unloaded roadblock materials from military truck
4. Media and supporters watching road block being set up
5. Close-up of supporter
6. Tilt up from boots to face of son of Army Commander General Frank Bainimarama, a soldier outside Qarase's house
7. Wide of road blocks being put into position
8. Former police spokesman walks through gate to Qarase's house
9. Methodist leader goes through gate
STORYLINE:
Supporters started to gather at the house of embattled Fijian Prime Minister Lainesie Qarase late on Tuesday, shortly after the country's president reportedly dissolved the Parliament.
Singing Christian hymns, they hoped to prevent the military from arresting the Prime Minister.
Qarase was effectively under house arrest, waiting for the next move of Army Commander General Frank Bainimarama.
Bainimarama, whose soldier son was assigned to guard the front gate of the Prime Minister, announced on Tuesday that he had taken control of the country from the elected government, confirming the South Pacific nation's fourth coup in less than two decades.
Army Commander Bainimarama and Qarase have been at odds over legislation that would pardon the plotters of the 2000 coup, and a bill that would cede coastal land to ethnic Fijians.
The Commander has accused Qarase of corruption as he has tried to rally public support for toppling the government.
Qarase maintains that 90 percent of the population supports the elected government.
Cabinet ministers visited their leader in the morning.
By the late afternoon he was receiving retired officials and religious leaders.
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Fijian Prime Minister delivers the Right of Reply
Fijian Prime Minister, Minister for iTaukei Affairs and Sugar Industry Hon. Voreqe Bainimarama delivered his right of reply in parliament.
FIJI: INTERIM GOVERNMENT: COURT VERDICT
Hindi/English/Nat
Fiji's interim government installed after a nationalist coup was illegal and must return power to the country's democratically elected parliament, the country's court of appeal ruled on Thursday.
The court said President Ratu Josefa Iloilo must step down by March 15.
It said parliament had never been dissolved by the coup and the country's constitution remained in effect.
The man who brought the case to court in June last year, Chandrika Prasab, was delighted with the result.
The ruling clears the way, if accepted by the interim government, for the return of democratic rule to the South Pacific nation.
The military-backed interim government took power last year after a May coup by hardline nationalists, who ousted the country's first ethnic Indian prime minister.
Iloilo, who was installed after the coup was instructed on Thursday to relinquish power and turn over his authority to the parliament, which has not sat since the coup.
It was not clear how the military would react to the ruling, although senior military figures said earlier that they would respect the outcome of the hearing.
There was tight security around the court on Thursday with snipers crouching on the roof and roadblocks thrown up across the capital, Suva, in case the decision triggered political violence.
Failed businessman George Speight led a gang of gunmen into parliament on May 19, taking the government hostage and holding some members for 56 days in a standoff with the military.
The hostages were eventually freed and Speight and his henchmen arrested.
Most of the plotters are in custody awaiting trial on treason charges.
A lower court ruled late last year that the interim government installed by the military after the coup was illegal and should step down in favor of a new administration formed by the old parliament.
The government appealed the ruling to the country's court of appeal.
Five foreign judges heard the case last week, in which the government argued it should be allowed to stay in power to lead the country back to democracy in March 2002 elections.
While the appeals court on Thursday ruled against the government and returned sovereignty to parliament, forming a new government will be difficult.
Fiji remains bitterly divided with hardline nationalists determined to exclude the country's large ethnic Indian minority from any significant political power.
Ousted prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry has vowed not to share power with any politicians linked to the coup, which would make it difficult to form a government of national unity.
Fijian nationalists and elements within the military are unlikely to accept Chaudhry's return to power.
Members of his own Labor Party have suggested the former prime minister should step aside in the interests of national unity but he has refused.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPERCAPTION: Justice Maurice Casey, presiding judge
SOUNDBITE: (Hindi)
Everything I am doing I am doing for Fiji, for my brothers, not for myself
SUPERCAPTION: Chandrika Prasab, complainant
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Fijian Prime Minister response to H.E. President's 2017 Parliament opening address.
Fijian Prime Minister, Hon. Voreqe Bainimarama response to the Fijian President H.E. Jioji Konrote's address at the opening of 2017-2018 Parliament session.
FIJI: SITUATION UPDATE
English/Nat
XFA
Fiji's tribal chiefs picked a rebel supporter as vice president on Friday, paving the way for the man who launched a two-month national crisis to fill the new Cabinet in the shattered government.
The Great Council of Chiefs installed Ratu Jope Seniloli as vice president, the day after appointing Ratu Josefa Iloilo president.
Both men were nominated by coup leader George Speight.
The appointments followed a two month parliamentary hostage crisis that has inflamed ethnic tensions in Fiji and ravaged the South Pacific nation's crucial tourist industry.
The final 18 hostages were released on Thursday following a deal on Sunday.
The military agreed to scrap the country's multiracial constitution, depose Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji's first prime minister of ethnic Indian descent, and grant Speight and his men amnesty.
Indo-Fijians, whose ancestors were brought to the islands by British colonialists over a century ago to work in the rich sugar cane fields, make up 44 percent of Fiji's 812-thousand people.
Many indigenous Fijians resent the Indo-Fijians' economic and political power.
But Sathin Chaudhry, Mahendra Chaudhry's son, said on Friday that they were properly protected under the constitution.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The interest of all communities were adequately catered for and taken into account and represented in the composition of the cabinet and if there were any general grievances, they could have been taken to the appropriate authorities like the judicial system.
SUPER CAPTION: Sathin Chaudhry, son of Mahendra Chaudhry , deposed Prime Minister of Fiji
Speight said he was acting on behalf of indigenous Fijians when he and an armed gang raided parliament on May 19, took dozens of lawmakers hostage and demanded the country's large ethnic Indian minority be stripped of political power.
At a news conference on Friday, he celebrated his success.
Speight held up the Fiji Government Gazette - the document providing immunity from prosecution for himself and the other hostage-takers.
On the inside of this document was the decree transferring executive power to an interim government.
That became effective at 5am Fijian time.
Speight said it spelled the end of the country's military government.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The military government is finished and executive authority has been transferred to Ratu Josefa Iloilo. On the back of this is the oath that he will swear some time over the next few days so we're getting closer to the final conclusion. As you know the hostages have been released and after this I'm going to take you into the building just up the road here and have you photograph all the ammunitions and guns and machine guns and ouzies that will be handed back to the chiefs this afternoon in a special ceremony that we'll be inviting you to capture.
SUPER CAPTION: George Speight, coup leader
As promised, the weapons to be handed over were put on show for the press.
And there were congratulations all round following the successful release of the final 18 hostages, which included Mahendra Chaudhry.
The Great Council of Chiefs installed Ratu Jope Seniloli as vice president, the day after appointing Ratu Josefa Iloilo president.
The chiefs now want Iloilo to choose Fiji's next government without outside influence, said council chairman Sitiveni Rabuka.
An announcement is expected within days.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The special meeting of the Bosoleo Buturana (?) concluded this afternoon and unanimously resolved the following. First, that Ratu Josefa Iloilo, formerly the Vice President of the Republic of Fiji, be appointed President of the Republic of Fiji.
SUPER CAPTION: Sitiveni Rabuka, Council Chairman
In the wake of the denouement, Fiji is a vastly changed country.
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