Fiji deadlock blamed on rebels

New doubts about Speight's willingness to free his hostages

Fiji's military rulers say efforts to end the country's five-week-old hostage crisis have been stalled by the rebel leader, George Speight.

The nationalist rebels have been demanding more power for ethnic Fijians since they stormed the parliament in the capital Suva.

They seized 31 hostages including the country's first ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.

A deal was due to be signed on Saturday after a breakthrough in negotiations.

But army spokesman Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini said Mr Speight had turned up with a fresh set of demands which involved a change to the way a new Fijian president was to be appointed.

We are dealing with irrational people and we are trying our best to get some sort of rational deal

Army spokesman Colonel Tarakinikini

Expressing his frustration at the lack of progress, Mr Tarakinikini accused Mr Speight of stalling tactics.

Army negotiators led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama say they are still committed to a peaceful resolution and talks are due to resume on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Speight is now being quoted as saying it could be another month before the hostages are set free.

Negotiations between the two sides have broken down on a number of occasions since the armed forces took control of Fiji on 29 May to stem a wave of looting and violence sparked by the coup attempt.

Chaudhry: 'haggard and dejected'

Any final deal is expected to involve the release of the captives, the formation of an interim civilian government and the issue of an amnesty for the rebel leader and his group.

The military has previously said it wants to hold on to power for another three months to maintain law and order, and would then create an interim government to prepare for fresh elections within two years.

Analysts say that when details of any accord finally emerge, attention will focus on how far it meets Mr Speight's initial demand that Indians be excluded from future Fijian governments.

Economic ramifications

Many in the Indian minority are scrambling to leave the country and the economy is in a downward spiral, with the tourism, garment and sugar industries reporting paralysis at the cost of millions of dollars a day and thousands of layoffs.

Fiji has already been suspended from Commonwealth policy-making bodies because of the military takeover, and Australia, New Zealand and the United States have threatened to impose economic sanctions if it does not restore democracy.

Australian trades unions have refused to handle cargo to and from Fiji, paralysing much of the country's exports.

Meanwhile the deposed prime minister, who has been beaten and at times had a gun held to his head by the rebels, was reported on Friday to be looking "haggard and dejected".

The Fiji Times newspaper, whose journalists had viewed the hostages from a distance a day earlier, said that "Mr Chaudhry... shuffled along with his head bowed and shoulders stooped.

"He was not the same man who only two months ago strode purposefully along the same corridors on government business," the paper said.