Curtains for Chaudhry govt as Fiji chiefs back coup

quot;It8217;s bad for Fiji, one way or the other,8221; he told a news conference, quot;What we have done this time is to assess which is the least damaging of the bad cases.8221;

Failed Fijian businessman George Speight, who led the attempted coup in the Pacific island, had yet to accept the deal, Rabuka said.

Rabuka, who himself led two coups in 1987, said the chiefs proposed that President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara head the council of advisers, which could include those involved in the coup bid.

He said the chiefs also urged Mara quot;to pardon all those who took part in the action against the Parliament and the kidnapping of the government8221;.

The chiefs, who ended a three-day meeting today, called for the immediate release of all hostages held in the Parliament building and the surrender of all firearms to police.

Rabuka said he had hoped the hostages would have been released quot;earlier this afternoon, before sundown8221;.

quot;As I pointed out to the great council of chiefs, it is better for them to be released in daylight,8221; he said, quot;There would be a lot of confusion at night and accidents can happen.8221;

Speight led the gunmen into parliament on Friday, taking ethnic Indian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry and several MPs hostage and claiming power in the name of indigenous Fijians.

The chiefs, who represent indigenous Fijians, reprimanded Speight and asked him to submit to Mara8217;s rule, but he refused, prompting them to come up with today8217;s plan.

New Zealand foreign minister Phil Goff earlier called the proposal quot;worrying8221;, warning it could spark Fiji8217;s removal from the 54-nation Commonwealth group of mostly ex-British colonies.

quot;That would be utterly unacceptable to New Zealand and most other democratic countries,8221; Goff told the Parliament.

Independent website fijilive.com reported that the chiefs had sent a delegation to Fiji8217;s sprawling thatch-roofed Parliament complex to talk to Speight.

quot;Mara is expected to appoint an interim PM tomorrow, following the release of the hostages at Parliament and the resignation of prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry,8221; it said.

The website, run by local journalists, said it was unclear if Speight would accept the decision and that much depended on who was proposed as the new prime minister.

The resignation of Chaudhry, Fiji8217;s first ethnic Indian prime minister, would be sought on his release, it added.

Mara is thought to have briefed UN and Commonwealth envoys on the chiefs8217; decision, the website said.

quot;Both envoys are believed to have expressed surprise at the move, especially if Chaudhry is not involved as seems likely,8221; it added.

The Commonwealth and UN envoys visited the captives on Wednesday and urged Speight to free Chaudhry and an estimated 35 other hostages unconditionally, but were refused.

Racial tension has mounted in Fiji since Chaudhry took power a year ago, with indigenous Fijians resentful of the success of Indians who make up 44 per cent of the 800,000 population.

State-owned Fiji television said an interim government would serve for three years before a national election was held.

Goff said a new government favouring indigenous Fijians would run counter to the Commonwealth8217;s 1991 Harare Declaration that commits member countries to ensuring equal rights for all their citizens regardless of gender, race, creed or political belief.

quot;The declaration requires a commitment to democracy, democratic processes and the rule of law. The proposals, if they went ahead as suggested, are totally contrary to those principles,8221; Goff told the Parliament.

Earlier, Speight claimed he had the support of the group of 50 or so chiefs.

quot;The chiefs have provisionally expressed their support for George Speight and his team,8221; Simoni Kaitani, the information minister in Speight8217;s self-proclaimed interim cabinet, said in a statement.

The statement claimed the chiefs would support the abolition of the 1997 constitution which guaranteed a mixed-race Parliament and allowed for a non-indigenous Fijian to be prime minister.

quot;In Europe, we don8217;t understand this,8221; said a French tourist outside the Parliament, quot;We call it a banana revolution.8221;