End to Fiji Standoff Remains Elusive

Talks between Fiji’s military rulers and gunmen holding 31 members of the deposed government hostage stalled today, dampening hopes that the captives would be released soon. But negotiations resumed in the afternoon.

Military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama and rebel leader George Speight met to look over the final draft of an accord negotiators on both sides said Friday would pave the way for the hostages’ release.

But Bainimarama left the meeting after less than 20 minutes without signing the accord, a military spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

Bainimarama, however, returned to the meeting here in the capital a few hours later, signaling a resumption of talks.

Radio Fiji reported that the talks broke down because Speight balked at a timetable for the release of the hostages proposed by Bainimarama.

Bainimarama reportedly wanted the hostages--who include former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry--released within three hours of the signing.

The deal would have ended the standoff at Parliament, which began May 19 when Speight and an armed gang stormed the building.

But it also was expected to scrap some of Fiji’s democratic traditions, reduce the rights of its ethnic Indian minority, grant an amnesty to the gunmen and disable the island’s already struggling economy.

Speight’s main demands were the ousting of Chaudhry’s government, the scrapping of Fiji’s multiracial constitution, and amnesty for him and his men. Those demands already had been accepted by the military, and this week’s talks were intended to sort out details of an interim civilian government and the scope of the amnesty to Speight’s armed supporters.

Speight says he is acting on behalf of the indigenous Fijian majority, whose rights, he said, were trampled upon by Chaudhry, the country’s first ethnic Indian leader.

In the wake of the coup attempt, some indigenous Fijians launched attacks on ethnic Indians, looting homes and businesses. Fiji’s military quickly took over, declaring martial law May 29.

Sugar, the nation’s cash crop, is at the core of Fiji’s troubles. Ethnic Indian farmers built the industry by operating plantations on land that is communally owned by indigenous Fijians and leased by the ethnic Indians at low rates set by English colonial law.

Those leases are due to be renewed, and the refusal by Chaudhry’s government to accept demands for higher rents on the land enraged many Fijians.

The military spokesman said the breakdown in talks came despite the military giving in to another of Speight’s demands--that the military hand power to the interim civilian government after three weeks, rather than the 12-week timetable Bainimarama wanted.