The World - News from Oct. 1, 1987

Fiji coup leader Col. Sitiveni Rabuka, backing off earlier pronouncements, agreed to delay plans to declare the South Pacific island nation a republic until after talks next week with the country’s political leaders, the military regime announced. The agreement came after Rabuka met with Governor General Penaia Ganilau, the crown representative for the Commonwealth, and Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, newly released from prison after his arrest during Friday’s coup. Rabuka reasserted control last week--his second coup in 19 weeks--as Ganilau was preparing to announce a bipartisan government of native Fijians and the majority Indian community.