Former hostage’s account of Fiji uprising

SUVA, FIJI, May 21: Their heads swathed in black hoods, the gunmen stormed into the main chamber of Fiji’s Parliament shortly after legislators took their seats for Friday’s morning session.

Brandishing machine-guns, rifles and pistols, they ordered the shocked lawmakers not to move while they cuffed their hands with disposable "zip-lock" plastic chords often used by security.

"We were scared we would be killed," John Ali, Housing and Transport Minister in Chaudhry’s year-old coalition, said today in an interview. "We were helpless."

Ali was one of the nine lawmakers who were released today and the first to give an inside account of the hostages’ treatment.

Chaudhry and more than 20 other members of his Government were still being help captive.

Ali recalled that nationalist leader and former businessman George Speight appeared, fired one shot into the air from an automatic pistol and declared: "this is a coup. I’m in charge now."

Speight told them he was IME Minister Mahendra Chaudhry’s Government and taking power on behalf of indigenous Fijians, who he said were being discriminated against.

After the rebels burst in and secured their prisoners, they marched the ethnic Indians among them to a downstairs office, separating them from the Government’s native Fijian members.

Ali said that when told by a rebel to get moving, Chaudhry defied him, saying sternly: "I won’t take orders from you." The Prime Minister relented when the rebel pointed his rifle at him and told him he was about to be shot.

Ali said he believed the entire Government was lucky not to be killed when the rebels first stormed Parliament, as a rebel told him later was the gang’s original plan.

"The original mission was to eliminate us.

The Indian members of Government were locked in a conference room dominated by a large table and chairs. Their cuffs were removed and they were offered food, tea and coffee by their guards. Few had any appetite.

Outside, news of the uprising had spread to a nationalist march downtown, about 3 kms from Parliament.

The march erupted into rioting and the looting and burning of Indian-owned businesses. The violence ended within hours and authorities declared a state of emergency. No one was seriously injured.

Inside Parliament, the legislators were kept in the conference room for more than 24 hours. Overnight, some slept on the floor, others spent an uncomfortable night trying to rest while sitting in the office chairs. (AP)

British firms sues Sri Lankan Govt

LONDON, May 21: A British defence company has accused the Sri Lankan Government of deliberately endangering the lives of its soldiers by leaving thousands of bullet-proof vests gathering dust in warehouses, media reports said here today.

Lightweight Body Armour, the main supplier of body armour to NATO, the UN and the German Army, is taking the Sri Lankan Government to court, alleging that the vests were not issued to soldiers because of company’s refusal to pay "bribe" to senior Government officials, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Locked in one of the toughest battles of the 17-year civil war, many of the 28,000 soldiers have been left fighting "barefoot and without flak jackets, and have so little ammunition that it is issued on a quota system," they said.

Andy Macgill, chairman of Lightweight Body Armour, said "it’s a ridiculous situation — people are dying needlessly because they don’t have any protective equipment because the Army commander won’t hand it out."

According to the report, the company signed a 750,000 pound contract in 1998 to supply 6,000 anti-rifle body armour plates to be issued to the frontline troops.

Half the money was paid and the vests despatched to Colombo. But it has never been issued and the rest of the money was not paid.

Sri Lankan Army claims the vests do not meet specifications because they do not stop finnish Lapua sniper bullets. But according to Macgill "the rebels are equipped with Russian or Chinese AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles which are easily stopped by our armour plates. The question is how many Sri Lankan soldier would have survived death or serious injury had this equipment been issued as it was supposed to be last year?"

He claims the vests have not been issued because of his refusal to pay 200,000 pound in "bribes" demanded by the Defence Ministry. "It’s corruption, corruption and corruption," he said.

Company officials, according to the newspaper report, blame Anuruddha Eatwatte, the President’s uncle and Deputy Defence Minister, who is in charge of day-to-day running of the war and who has been accused by Sri Lankan newspapers of mismanaging and misappropriating much of the 50 million pound defence budget.

Ratwatte’s nephew represents a rival equipment supplier, the report said.

The report said the fate of the Sri Lankan troops cut off on the Jaffna peninsula is looking increasingly precarious with a new rebel offensive now under way.

All land routes to the mainland are already under the control of the Tigers, who want to carve out Eelam, a homeland for minority Tamils.

For the past three days, guerrilla artillery has targeted the Palali air base and Kankesanturai sea port which are the troops’ only functional supply lines. (PTI)

Hand-to-hand fighting in Jaffna as Norway officials arrives

COLOMBO, May 21: Heavy fighting broke out in the embattled Jaffna peninsula as the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE today engaged in fierce hand-to-hand battles in the war-torn region ahead of a high-level Norwegian delegation’s visit, commencing here tomorrow, to broker peace talks between the warring sides.

A Government statement here said today that its troops were engaged in almost hand-to-hand battle with the rebels on the outskirts of Chavakachcheri, located 15 km south east of Jaffna town since yesterday in which two important LTTE leaders and nine Army soldiers were killed.

Refuting LTTE’s last nights claims that Chavakachcheri has been captured by its fighters, the statement said troops have been battling to halt the rebel offensive on the town since yesterday. "At present troops are in contact with groups of terrorists on the outskirts of Chavakachcheri town", it said.

Last night, the LTTE has claimed that its fighters have taken control of Chavakachcheri, which was located in the heart of the peninsula.

While denying the rebel claims, the Sri Lankan Government said two LTTE’s area military leaders, Murali and Vasanthan were killed in the battle and admitted nine soldiers were killed in both the operations and 47 others including six officers were wounded.

The fighting escalated even as a Norwegian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister, Raymond Johansen was scheduled to arrive in Colombo tomorrow for comprehensive discussions with President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and opposition United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Diplomatic sources said that cease-fire would be high on the agenda of Johensen, as the fighting endangered the live of over half a million civilians. President Chandrika during the past few days has been expressing her willingness to talk to the LTTE but at the same time firmly ruled out any proposal to pull out troops from Jaffna. The LTTE for its part issued an week long ultimatum for over 30,000 Government troops to surrender with their weapons, which has been rejected by Jaffna Army Commander Maj Gen Janaka Perera.

Johense would be accompanied by Eric Solhiem, who has been designated Norway’s special peace envoy to Sri Lanka. (PTI)

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