Fiji Army Reclaims Barracks After Mutiny

S U V A , Fiji, Nov. 3 -- Elite troops apparently loyal to an imprisoned former coup leader seized Fiji’s military headquarters and battled with regular units today, holding five officers hostage until the army retook the barracks.

Two soldiers were killed and 10 injured during a day of fighting between the mutineers and troops loyal to the government.

Military spokesman Maj. Howard Politini told Radio Fiji in the evening that loyalist troops launched a heavy assault and retook the Queen Victoria Barracks, but that about 20 rebels had escaped and were heading for the capital, Suva.

Shortly after the announcement, loud explosions and machine gun fire could be heard close to Suva. The cause was not immediately known.

Politini said all five hostages had been freed in the counterassault. He gave no further details.

Heavy Gunfire and Explosions

The fighting began just after noon local time when members of the army’s elite Counter Revolutionary Warfare unit attacked the barracks and took it.

Radio station FM96 aired a telephone interview with an unidentified officer from inside the barracks who said he had a gun to his head and that he was one of a number of officers held by CRW rebels.

The officer said the rebels wanted to negotiate with senior military officers but did not elaborate on their demands.

The government, however, issued an ultimatum to the rebels to lay down their arms by sundown or face military action. Soon after it passed, heavy gunfire and explosions were heard from inside the barracks.

An Appeal for Calm

In a nationally televised address, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase appealed for calm and pledged to bring an end to the mutiny. “Justice will be done, I promise you,” Qarase said. “Events at army camp will not deter the interim government from the pursuit ofits objective to return the country to peace and harmony.”

Renegade members of the CRW were key members of a group of gunmen that stormed Parliament in May, launching a coup that toppled the government of then-Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.