Fiji military closes in on rebel soldiers

12:30 PM

SUVA - Fijian authorities intensified their search for heavily armed rebel soldiers today as a curfew was lifted for the first time since a bloody gun battle two days ago during a failed mutiny.

The troubled South Pacific nation's military said that a prisoner who escaped during a mass jailbreak at the height of a coup in May had been recaptured but died of injuries sustained during his arrest near the rebel soldiers' camp outside Suva.

Military spokesman Major Howard Politini said one more rebel soldier from the elite Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) unit was arrested early today, taking to 13 the number caught since the mutiny at Fiji's military headquarters on Thursday.

A further 14 rebels were still on the run after escaping while Fiji's military put down the attempted mutiny at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks on a hilltop overlooking Suva.

"We will be intensifying our search as of this morning and we have leads as to the whereabouts of the rebel soldiers," Politini said.

Eight soldiers - five rebels and three men loyal to military commander Frank Bainimarama - died in gun battles at the barracks on Thursday.

Military-backed interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase has called on the rebel soldiers to give themselves up as Fiji struggles to recover from the effects of the May 19 coup by nationalist rebels who were backed by members of the CRW.

Politini said the rebel soldiers were carrying about 60 weapons - 20 stolen on Thursday from the Queen Elizabeth Barracks and 40 still missing from the May coup.

More than 20 people were injured during the fighting, including seven civilians hit by stray bullets. Two regular soldiers are in a serious condition in hospital.

A military source said the escaped prisoner, Alifereti Nimacere, was arrested in a township outside Suva where nationalist rebels had gathered after the May coup which toppled the government of Mahendra Chaudhry.
The source said the military believed the remaining rebel soldiers were in the same area.

Politini said the military had stumbled on Nimacere as they searched bushland and houses for the rebel soldiers. No shots were fired during the arrest, he said.

"The escaped prisoner was armed but he was quite drunk and there was no exchange of fire," Politini said.

A Colonial War Memorial hospital spokesman said Nimacere had died of unspecified injuries sustained during his arrest.

Politini said the rebel soldier was recaptured about 30 minutes after Nimacere was taken into custody.

The arrests came several hours before the curfew in Suva was lifted at 7am (NZT).

Suva streets were clogged with shoppers and traffic on a cold, overcast day as residents rushed to stock up on goods before the curfew came back into force at 8pm.

"We need to get the shopping done because anything could happen," one Suva resident said.

The mutiny came at a bad time for Fiji's battered economy, which is based on tourism, sugar and garment manufacturing and was just starting to recover from damage caused by the May coup.

Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian leader, was ousted in the May coup. Fiji's ethnic Indians make up about 44 percent of the 800,000 population and dominate the economy.

- REUTERS