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Fiji's ousted leader leaves capital
2006-12-05
Fiji's ousted prime minister left the capital Wednesday, the day after a bloodless coup, as international sanctions and censure began isolating the South Pacific country. Armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama's plan to install a caretaker government that would eventually restore democracy ran into an immediate snag when the country's powerful tribal chiefs' council canceled a meeting that was a key part of it. Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase flew out of Suva to his home village on the remote northeastern Lau group of islands after spending the night in his city residence surrounded by troops, said Pene Nonu, his private secretary. Qarase, who insists he is still Fiji's legitimate leader, chartered the plane, but left at the request of the military, Nonu said. The prime minister's home had became a focal point for government supporters, with scores of people gathering to sing hymns and say prayers on Tuesday as troops stood guard nearby. The city was generally quiet Wednesday, with fewer military roadblocks and checkpoints than during Tuesday's takeover. Most government offices and private businesses were open. Traffic was light and fewer people than normal were on the streets. International condemnation of Bainimarama's takeover flowed in. Washington suspended $2.5 million in aid to Fiji used mostly for military sales and training, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack condemned the military's action and said U.S. government believes Qarase's government could be reinstated because the situation is unsettled. Australia on Tuesday joined New Zealand in suspending military ties with Fiji and slapping travel bans on armed forces officers and anyone who joins the planned interim administration. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said further sanctions could follow. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly deplored the coup and demanded the elected government be immediately restored to power, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "The events today could have an effect on future deployments and rotations" of Fijian troops in U.N. operations in Iraq and elsewhere, Dujarric said at U.N. headquarters in New York. But current deployments would not be affected, he said. Bainimarama announced Tuesday he had seized control by assuming some powers of President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and using them to dismiss Qarase and appoint Dr. Jona Senilagakali, a military medic with no political experience, as caretaker prime minister. Bainimarama said he would ask the Great Council of Chiefs, which has Constitutional authority to appoint the president and vice president, to restore Iloilo to the post at a meeting next week. Iloilo would then appoint a full interim government that would eventually call elections to restore democracy, Bainimarama said. But Ovina Bokineli, the chairman of the chiefs' council, said it had canceled its scheduled meeting next week because of the coup, and that Iloilo had rejected Bainimarama's claim to the president's post. Senators met in the legislature Tuesday and continued their debate on the budget, until troops entered the house and told the lawmakers to end the sitting, which they did. Bainimarama said he seized power because Qarase's government had refused to kill three bills the military leader said unconstitutional because they offered pardons to plotters in a 2000 civilian nationalist coup and handed indigenous Fijians coastal land rights. Fiji suffered two earlier military coups in 1987.
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