Soldiers have set up barricades
Britain says it has been trying to contact the military commander who said he had seized power in Fiji, warning that democracy was in jeopardy and the Pacific island could face international isolation. Declaring martial law, Commodore Frank Bainimarama said that troops would restrict access to the parliamentary compound, where rebels have been holding Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and more than 30 members of his government. Soldiers have set up barricades and defences at key installations across the capital, including fuel depots and radio and television stations. Commodore Bainimarama also announced a 24-hour national curfew but this has now been lifted. The rebels now say that they may soon release Prime Minister Chaudhry and most of his government.
The whereabouts of President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara is not known, but his office said that he had agreed to step aside. On Saturday, the Fijian President sacked Mahendra Chaudhry, the country's first ethnic Indian Prime Minister, and his government. The army's move came eleven days after the businessman George Speight seized parliament and took the prime minister and members of his cabinet hostage. A spokesman for George Speight's self-styled government said that negotiations had begun between them and the military.
