An exchange of gunfire has taken place at Fiji's parliament, where the government has been held hostage, since the May 19 coup by bankrupt businessman George Speight. According to state-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, a group of Speight supporters left parliament to raid empty houses in an exclusive area of the capital, Suva. An army patrol met them as they were leaving one home and the group ran back to the parliament. Snipers with Mr Speight's group inside the parliament gave the looters covering fire as they made it back into the complex. There were no reports of injuries.
Commonwealth foreign ministers earlier partially suspended Fiji from the Commonwealth. At an emergency meeting in London, the ministers called for the immediate and unconditional release of the elected Prime Minister and the other hostages. The leaders of the attempted coup want political rights to be reserved for indigenous Fijians; just under half of the population are ethnic Indians. The ministers made similar demands of the nearby Solomon Islands, where rebels took control of the country's capital on Monday.
Fiji's military rulers have toughened their stance against coup leader George Speight. Commodore Frank Bainamarama said that they would not budge in their demand for the release of the 30 political hostages, including ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who have been held hostage since May 19. Today's 4am deadline for soldiers who are supporting Mr Speight's rebels to lay down their arms passed, with only three soldiers leaving the parliamentary compound, where Prime Minister Chaudhry and the others were being held. He again called on Mr Speight to free the hostages and return all military weapons, in return for an amnesty.
