Fiji rebels release women

Lavenia Padarath is reunited with family and friends

Gunmen holding Fiji's deposed government hostage have released their four remaining female captives - three of them ministers in the ousted cabinet.

Twenty-seven men are still being held inside parliament more than five weeks into the crisis by nationalist rebels who want more power for indigenous Fijians.

We want to show the military we are serious about freeing all the hostages and that we are not cruel people

Rebel spokesman Jo Nata

The releases came shortly before negotiations resumed between the military and the rebel leadership.

A spokesman for the military, Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini, said the release of the women was a positive sign and a relief, but he described the talks as a crooked path which was very difficult to negotiate.

Prior to the resumption of talks, rebel spokesman Jo Nata said the four women - all mothers - had been allowed to leave as a goodwill gesture so that they could be back with their children for the start of the school year.

Adi Koila Manailatikau hugs a friend after being released

But the leader of the coup attempt, George Speight, played down the suggestion, saying "as for the goodwill side of it, let people interpret what they want to interpret".

The head of Fiji's Red Cross, John Scott, said he had spoken to two of the women, and they sounded "pretty cheerful".

He said they had been set free at about midnight local time on Saturday, and taken under heavy police escort to be reunited with their families.

Ex-president's daughter

Among the released hostages was Adi Koila Manailatikau, the daughter of former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.

The military accuses Mr Speight of stalling tactics

She was set free along with fellow MPs Lavenia Padarath, Akanisi Koroitamana and Marieta Rigamoto.

All four have been examined by a doctor and debriefed by trauma counsellors.

Those still being held include Mahendra Chaudhry, the country's first ethnic Indian prime minister, his cabinet and MPs. All are said by the women to be well.

Mr Chaudhry, who has been beaten and at times had a gun held to his head, was reported on Friday to be looking "haggard and dejected".

Talks breakdown

The releases came after efforts by Fiji's military rulers to secure further hostage releases appeared to have stalled.

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

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

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.

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.

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 rom 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.