SUVA, NOV 2: Two Fijian soldiers were killed in a battle in Suva's main barracks on Thursday between regular army troops and members of a special unit who backed a May coup and were trying to oust the military commander.A curfew was imposed on the capital, Suva, and the Government called for calm. Central Suva was deserted after workers were told to go home early and schools were shut.Residents near the sealed-off hill-top barracks reported sporadic fighting there as night fell on this South Pacific island nation, scene of a May coup attempt which severely hurt the tourist and sugar-driven economy.The rest of Fiji, including the key town of Labasa on the island of Vanua Levu where landowners and some military men revolted in May, was reported to be quiet.Former Fiji prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka went to the barracks to try to negotiate an end to the fighting.``I have advised the mutineers that, if they know the situation is hopeless, to put the white flag up,'' Rabuka told Channel Nine television in Australia by telephone.Gunfire could be heard in the background, almost drowning out former army colonel Rabuka as he spoke.Fiji radio said the rebel soldiers were holed up in one building inside the barracks.Fijian President Ratu Josefa Iloilo is in Australia for medical treatment. Interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase was on his way to Suva after arriving back in Fiji earlier on Thursday from a Pacific Forum in Kiribati.Suva's Colonial War Memorial Hospital said two regular army soldiers had been killed and it was treating 10 wounded soldiers, brought in on the shoulders of their comrades and in the backs of trucks and ambulances.Fiji's Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) unit attempted to take over the Queen Elizabeth Barracks around 1 pm (0100 GMT), storming the armoury.Military commander Frank Bainimarama fled from the barracks through dense bushland about two hours after the shooting started, said an FM96 radio reporter who saw him escape surrounded by 12 bodyguards, armed with M16 Rifles.``The CRW are exchanging gunfire with the army inside the barracks,'' said an army officer who fled the barracks just after the shooting started. ``The armoury has been taken over.''Disgruntled CRW members were among gunmen led by businessman George Speight who stormed Parliament on May 19 in the name of indigenous Fijian rights and ousted Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian leader.The army launched a counter-attack some four hours after the battle began. More than 60 soldiers loyal to Bainimarama fought their way into the barracks.Bainimarama, who comes from Fiji's navy and has struggled to win the full support of the army, later visited the wounded soldiers in hospital. He declined to talk to reporters.Media reported the CRW special forces members took some soldiers hostage inside the barracks and were demanding negotiations on the leadership of the military.``I have a gun to my head,'' said one of the hostages in a telephone interview with FM96 radio. ``There are a number of army officers being held inside the army barracks.''New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said it appeared the CRW attack was linked to Bainimarama's investigation of 150 soldiers for their suspected involvement in the May coup.Speight, leader of the May coup, is on a prison island off Suva, awaiting a treason trial. Eight CRW members, who were facing treason charges, were released into military custody last week.Fiji's ethnic Indians, who make up about 44 per cent of the 800,000 population, dominate the country's economy.Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said up to 50 CRW members and regular army supporters were involved in the attempt to take over the barracks.``The situation is highly volatile now in Suva and we would hope it won't spread to other parts of the country but one can't be sure,'' Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.``There is a lot of deep division and great bitterness in Fiji about what has happened there since the 19th of May,'' he said.Fiji's battered post-coup economy - dominated by sugar, tourism and garment manufacturing - has been recovering, with contraction forecasts halved to eight percent for the year and tourists returning, lured by cheap holiday deals.
