Suva - The leader of an attempted coup in Fiji rejected pressure from traditional chiefs for him to free the country's prime minister and other hostages he has been holding in parliament.
Mr George Speight, who seized Fiji's ethnic Indian Prime Minister, Mr Mahendra Chaudhry, last Friday and claimed power in the name of indigenous Fijians, rejected yesterday's decision by the nation's Great Council of Chiefs to support President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. In a statement quoted on the independent website fijilive.com, Mr Speight said President Mara must step down "before the situation escalates and becomes uncontrollable by any authority in Fiji".