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Fiji army commander warns of bloodshed
by Pita Ligaiula
The Associated Press Translate This Article
2 November 2006
SUVA, Fiji (AP) - Fiji's military commander warned Thursday that the prime minister's refusal to resign over a dispute between the two men could plunge the coup-prone South Pacific nation into bloodshed.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama did not elaborate, but he dismissed fears of another military revolt.
Fiji Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes nonetheless said Bainimarama would be called in for questioning when he returns, saying his comments could constitute sedition. Authorities were also considering charging him with treason.
Bainimarama threatened last month to force Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to resign unless Qarase dropped two contentious bills, one of which would offer amnesty to some of those involved in a 2000 coup. Fiji has seen three coups in the last 19 years.
Qarase's government has sought Bainimarama's ouster, but senior military officers have refused to let their commander be replaced.
''The last thing we want to do is have violence, the last thing we want to do is have bloodshed,'' Bainimarama told New Zealand's National Radio from Egypt, where he is visiting Fijian peacekeeping troops.
But Qarase ''is pointing us in that direction,'' he added.
Bainimarama insisted the armed forces would not carry out another coup d'etat in the former British colony.
''No, no, no, no ... the Fiji military is not going to mount another coup,'' he said, adding ``I can't tell you'' how the military would break the impasse.
The prime minister declined to comment on Bainimarama's warning of bloodshed Thursday but said he expected dialogue with the military chief.
Bainimarama brought Qarase to power in a brokered resolution to the last coup in 2000, but he now condemns the premier's government as corrupt. He strongly opposes the bill to grant amnesty to some of the indigenous Fijian nationalists who ousted the nation's first ethnic-Indian prime minister in 2000.
The current standoff is between two high-profile indigenous Fijians, in contrast to previous coups in which indigenous nationalists prevented ethnic Indians from controlling the government.
Hughes, an Australian policeman contracted to work for the Fijian force, said police would be careful not to inflame the situation with their investigation.
''And I think things like dragging him off the plane would be very provocative and inappropriate in the circumstances,'' Hughes told reporters in Fiji's capital, Suva.
Sedition carries a maximum prison term of two years, and treason a life sentence.
''I think we're going to see a continuing war of words, continuing saber-rattling, chest thumping-and brinkmanship,'' Hughes said. ''I honestly don't believe at this juncture we're going to see any sort of forced takeover of the government by the Fiji military.''
Police said Fiji was calm Thursday.
The United States and several of Fiji's neighbors have publicly supported Qarase's government. The United States has threatened to suspend aid if Qarase is toppled.
Two Australian warships are on standby in case it becomes necessary to organize an evacuation of Australian citizens.
The secretary-general of the British Commonwealth, to which Fiji belongs, warned against a coup.
''We have no tolerance for military leaders who overthrow democratic governments,'' Don McKinnon said in a statement.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Global Good News comment:
If a nation's collective consciousness becomes more harmonious and coherent, then the government will mirror that harmony and coherence in its decisions and actions. For example, an eight-year study based on data gathered independently by the Zurich Peace Project showed that higher attendance at a large peace-creating group was associated with more positive and harmonious actions by the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union.
For more information on how government can improve the collective consciousness of its citizens and thereby actualize the ideal of administration, the supreme quality of administration of government, please see:
http://maharishi-programmes.globalgoodnews.com/vedic-administration/programmes.html
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