Fiji army chief threatens peaceful transition

Source: CCTV.com | 11-30-2006 15:44

Fiji army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has given the Qarase Government the deadline of Friday afternoon to meet all his demands and threatened "a peaceful transition" if that does not happen.

According to Fiji Times, in a press conference moments ago, the army chief called on the Government to "join a clean-up campaign" the military was organizing or "the army will do it for them." The army chief said that unless the Government meets all nine of the army's demands fully, the Government -- all Cabinet ministers and advisers -- should resign.

Bainimarama earlier said he had walked out in the middle of a crisis meeting arranged by the New Zealand Government in Wellington Wednesday because "Qarase had disregarded all of the military's demands."

From a contradictory stand, Qarase in his national address Thursday said his meeting with Bainimarama "was cordial" and tagged it a successful trip. Tensions in Fiji have been high since Bainimarama threatened last month to remove Prime Minister Qarase from office.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has said China is paying much attention to the situation in Fiji and hopes it maintain stability. She noted that Fiji is a friendly country of China.

Editor:Ji Xuewen