Martial law imposed
for Fijian coup crisis
■ bovernment otticials have
been held hostage for 10
days, and the army cuts
access to the parliament
By Rohan Sullivan
The Associated Press
SUVA, Fiji — Moving to end
Fiji’s crisis, the country’s army
commander imposed martial law
Monday night and began to iso
late the rebels who have been
holding the prime minister and
other government officials
hostage for 10 days.
The commander, Commodore
Frank Bainimarama, announced
he had assumed control of Fiji
and that President Ratu Sir
Kamisese Mara had quit after
running the country since the
coup began May 19.
“I have, with much reluctance,
assumed executive authority of
the country, and henceforth de
clared martial law,” Bainimarama
said at a news conference. He
said soldiers will restrict access
to the parliamentary compound
where the insurgents are holding
Prime • Minister Mahendra
Chaudhry and more than 30
members of his government.
Coup leader George Speight is
a member of the ethnic Fijian ma
jority. He wants Chaudhry, Fiji’s
first prime minister from the In
dian minority, removed from
power and Indians barred from
leading the country again. Fijians
of Indian ancestry make up 44
percent or the population of
813,000 on this Pacific island, but
control much of the nation’s com
merce in this country 2,250 miles
northeast of Sydney, Australia.
By cutting access to the parlia
ment compound, the military
hopes to isolate the rebels from
supporters who have come and
gone freely.
“The country will be run by a
military government,” Baini
marama said. “The primary ob
jective of this government is to
take the country toward peace
and stability and the well-being
of Fiji at the earliest opportuni
ty.”
Shortly before the commander
spoke, the military imposed a 48
hour curfew in the capital, Suva.
In a show of force, numerous
troops and police patrolled the
streets.
Although Bainimarama’s mili
tary previously had expressed
support for President Mara, the
troops had taken little action. The
strategy changed Monday, one
day after a mob supporting
Speight killed a policeman and
knocked Fiji television off the air.
The death of the policeman was
the first fatality in the hostage cri
sis.
Earlier Monday, negotiators
had met again to seek a resolution
to the standoff, but no progress
was reported. The streets in Suva
were largely quiet after police ad
vised people to stay home and
schools to close.
ILN. peacekeeper force
gains additional troops
■ Rebel forces in Sierra
Leone have stolen weapons,
vehicles and uniforms from
the understaffed U.N. force
By Clarence Roy-Macaulay
The Associated Press
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone —
West African leaders agreed
Monday to send 3,000 troops to
Sierra Leone to help U.N. peace
keepers who have suffered rebel
attacks and seen their colleagues
kidnapped.
A statement released Monday
by the West African heads of
state meeting in the Nigerian
capital, Abuja, did not specify
how many troops would be sent
to boost the U.N. peacekeeping
mission in Sierra Leone.
But officials at the weekend
conference said on condition of
anonymity that leaders had en
dorsed a proposal made by re
gional defense ministers two
weeks ago to send 3,000 soldiers,
most of them Nigerian.
The statement also called on
the United Nations to put the
force in Sierra Leone under West
African command and change its
mandate from “peacekeeping to
peace enforcement.”
Hopes for peace were also
boosted by the release Sunday of
what was believed to be the last
of 500 U.N. personnel held cap
tive for more than three weeks
by the Revolutionary United
Front rebels.
The RUF rebels signed a July
peace accord but reignited the
conflict earlier this month as a
Nigerian-led West African inter
vention force known as ECO
MOG pulled out of the country
to make way for the U.N. force.
Western countries had refused
to give financial backing to ECO
MOG because of alleged human
rights abuses committed by the
force. Rights groups and U.N. of
ficials agree, however, that rebel
atrocities far outweighed ECO
MOG crimes.
The now nearly 11,000-strong
U.N. force has been expected to
reach 13,000 troops by the end of
June. The new West African con
tingent will bring the total closer
to the 16,500 recommended by
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi An
nan.
The U.N. mission has been
troubled since it began late last
year. At least 11 peacekeepers
have been killed and 25 to 30
wounded, U.N. force command
er Maj. Gen. Vijay Kumar Jetley
said Monday. Rebels have also
robbed peacekeepers of their
weapons, vehicles and uniforms.
Despite the setbacks, Jetley in
sisted Monday his peacekeepers
were using “force when neces
sary” and had inflicted major
rebel casualties when attacked.
“The rebels are still licking
their wounds,” Jetley said. “The
RUF is in a total state of demor
alization at the moment.” He did
not elaborate.
No fighting was reported Mon
day, Jetley said, but state-run ra
dio said government forces had
captured the key town of Lunsar,
about 60 miles east of Freetown.
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