SUVA, Fiji -- The leader of armed rebels holding Fiji's government hostage in parliament refused Tuesday to recognize the authority of the country's new military ruler and called on the army to replace him.
George Speight -- who led Fiji's coup attempt May 19 and holds more than 30 hostages, including Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry -- questioned Commodore Frank Bainimarama's control over the military.At a news conference in the parliamentary complex, Speight claimed that only half the military supports Bainimarama and the other half supports the rebels.
Speight is a member of the Fijian majority. He wants Chaudhry, Fiji's first prime minister from the Indian minority, removed from power and Indians barred from leading the country again.
Fijians of Indian ancestry make up 44 percent of the population of 813,000 on this Pacific Island but control much of the nation's commerce in this country 2,250 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.
After declaring martial law and taking command of the country late Monday, Fiji's new military rulers began negotiations Tuesday to free the hostages. The forces have not cracked down on the rebels or stopped their supporters from entering parliament.
Bainimarama announced after assuming control that President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara had quit after running the country since the coup began and Chaudhry was taken captive.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told parliament on Tuesday that Mara had been put on a Fijian navy patrol boat sailing off the coast for his safety. Downer also said Bainimarama was not planning to stay in power.
"He disclaimed any interest in participating in government and did say that he would move to a point of civilian interim government to work towards either a new or an amended constitution and possibly fresh elections," Downer told parliament.
Mara's resignation had been one of Speight's main demands and led to hopes that the crisis would quickly be resolved and the captives released. Speight also wants Fiji's 1997 constitution scrapped and his self-styled Taukei civilian government installed. Taukei is a nationalist Fijian movement.
Indigenous Fijians blame the 1997 constitution for giving too much political power to Fiji's ethnic Indian minority, which controls many businesses in the island nation.
Formalizing his powers, Bainimarama today revoked the 1997 constitution, but in a second decree said all laws in force under that constitution would remain unchanged under martial rule.
The constitution effectively was revoked the moment martial law was declared and the decree was not seen as a major concession to Speight.
Speight said he would meet a delegation of senior army officers today but would not negotiate with Bainimarama, whom he accused of remaining loyal to Mara. The reason for Speight's opposition to Mara, a fellow indigenous Fijian, was not clear.
"I think Commodore Bainimarama is a lost cause," Speight said. "I think he is so blinded by his allegiances to Ratu Mara that it clouds his ability to take the right decisions."
A 48-hour curfew imposed Monday was lifted early today, and the streets of Fiji's capital, Suva, were calm, with many people returning to their offices.
Armed soldiers were stationed outside some government buildings and manned roadblocks, but there appeared to be fewer roadblocks in Suva than on Monday, and soldiers did not prevent Speight supporters from entering parliament -- as Bainimarama had said they would.
Bainimarama's military previously had expressed support for Mara, but the troops at first took little action. However, the day after a mob supporting Speight killed a policeman and knocked Fiji television off the air, the military called the curfew and declared martial law.
The killing of the policeman was the first death in the hostage crisis.
A former insurance salesman, Speight was fired last year by the prime minister as chairman of two companies involved in managing Fiji's lucrative timber trade. He had been appointed to both posts by the previous government, in which his father was a senior member.
The United Nations and countries including Australia, New Zealand and the United States have criticized Fijian forces for failing to crack down on Speight and his allies. Sanctions have been threatened.
Today, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer urged the military to make way for civilian rule.
"We want the military as soon as possible -- and I don't mean by that months later but as soon as possible -- to restore civilian and democratic government, and we hope very much that this is going to be a step toward that final outcome," Downer told Australia's Nine Network television company.