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Fiji's PM: military coup under way
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| Contributor | Imperator |
| Last Edited | Imperator Dec 04, 2006 08:43pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Tuesday, December 5, 2006 02:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | SUVA, Fiji - Fiji's elected leader said Tuesday a military takeover was under way in the South Pacific country as armed troops surrounded his house and other government buildings in a lockdown of the capital.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said it was not clear who was in control of his tiny country.
"There are some things that aren't clear," Qarase told the Legend network by telephone, when he was asked if he was still in charge. "If the military has completed the takeover, then they are in control. If they have not completed the takeover, then we are still the government of the day."
Troops set up guard posts around his house on Tuesday, but left after about an hour. The military seized his car, however, so he was unable to leave his house and go to work. Other ministers' vehicles were also seized.
"There is virtually a coup now taking place," Qarase told New Zealand's National Radio earlier on Tuesday.
Armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama visited President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, and Qarase said the president could be a key player in determining the outcome of the crisis that has paralyzed the country for weeks.
Qarase has refused to meet Bainimarama's demand that he resign, prompting the military chief to order a gradual lockdown of the capital, Suva, since early Monday. Soldiers loyal to Bainimarama on Monday disarmed the police.
"They have strangled the police force — they've neutralized them in terms of arms and ammunition and now they are strangling the government machinery today," Qarase said.
Bainimarama has been threatening to "clean up" the government for weeks. He said soldiers had emptied two police armories Monday "to ensure that police weapons are not used against the military." |
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