Fiji chiefs pressure Speight

Speight kneels as he shakes hands with a Fijian chief

A group of Fijian tribal chiefs have met coup leader George Speight to pressure him to end his rebellion and release the hostages he has been holding for three weeks.

The meeting came as Fiji's military government asked a Commonwealth team to postpone their visit to discuss their concerns about the crisis, in which 31 people including the prime minister are being held hostage.

The chiefs, who are from the western side of the main island Viti Levu, the country's economic engine, said the attempted coup was damaging Fiji's economy and its key industries, sugar and tourism.

"A lot of the basis on which our economy relies is based in the western division - sugar, tourism, mining, pine," the delegation's leader, Chief Ratu Osea Gavidi, explained.

He said the industries produced about $500m in foreign exchange annually.

Fijian government economists believe the political crisis will result in a loss of $100m in revenue while unemployment could rise by up to 20%.

Ratu Osea Gavidi, the head of a delegation of western chiefs

The BBC's Suva correspondent Phil Mercer reports that many tourists have cancelled their holidays.

A trade embargo imposed by Australian trade unions has cut supply lines to one of Fiji's most important sectors, the garment industry.

The chiefs planned to meet military rulers later on Friday. They insisted they were not taking sides but simply want a quick resolution to the crisis.

On Thursday, the chiefs announced that they were planning to set up a separate administration for the western part of Viti Levu for the duration of the political crisis.

A 60-strong delegation from the country's Methodist Church also went up to parliament building on Friday demanding the release of the hostages.

Army denies snub

The army, which seized power after the coup, has meanwhile denied snubbing a Commonwealth peace delegation.

A policeman beaten on Thursday by Speight's men spits blood

The delegation - which includes foreign ministers from Australia and New Zealand and representatives from Botswana and Malaysia - were due to arrive for talks on Friday.

Spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini said the military had asked for the visit to be postponed for a week to allow it to "fully appraise the situation".

"We needed more time to prepare ourselves and to set our case out clearly to them," he said. "It's been oversimplified... they can't compare us with any other country."

The delegation had planned to express the Commonwealth's concerns and explain the reasons for the decision on Monday to partially suspend Fiji from the councils of the Commonwealth.

The military has proposed that it should rule Fiji for up to three months to allow for the establishment of a new civilian administration.