Australia denies sending mercenaries to Fiji

SUVA, Nov 6 (Reuters) Australia today said it had reinforced its Fiji mission in preparation for a possible coup, while Fiji's military accused Canberra of flying in mercenaries ahead of crisis talks with police and government leaders.

Fiji's Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti has accused Australia of breaching sovereignty and threatening security by sending a number of police, who he described as mercenaries.

Australia's Justice Minister Chris Ellison denied the claim.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said extra staff were flown to Fiji last Friday with equipment to communicate with two warships sent towards Fiji to evacuate Australians in the event of a coup.

''I'm not going into the details of who they are, but I'm just saying that we need people to assist with coordination and administration, and they obviously need some equipment,'' Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

Driti said the Australians were whisked through immigration in the western city of Nadi without going through proper channels and were accompanied by 400 kg of equipment in strong silver boxes which he said did not clear Customs.

Australia and New Zealand have been rattled by the stand-off between Fiji's military and government, which has raised fears of a fourth coup in 20 years.

Outspoken military chief Commander Frank Bainimarama has warned Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to drop two contentious pieces of legislation or be removed from office.

TREASON TRIAL Australia, a regional security power and major aid donor, has cautioned Bainimarama not to move against Qarase. Canberra has warned that a coup would hurt outside investment and the tourism on which Fiji's economy relies.

Australia last week sent two warships towards Fiji in case it needed to evacuate some of the 7,000 Australian holidaymakers in the South Pacific island nation. It said the ships would not enter Fijian territory without being asked.

Bainimarama was to meet Fiji Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, an Australian, early this week to try to ease tensions between the two security services.

Bainimarama yesterday gathered senior commanders and was seeking talks with Qarase ahead of a meeting on Thursday of the Great Council of Chiefs, which has been asked to resolve the stand-off as the country's top powerbroker.

Qarase softened his stand on Saturday, saying a key provision that would have given amnesties to some of those behind the May 2000 coup by armed indigenous nationalists had been dropped from one of the two contentious bills.

The treason trial of Sitiveni Rabuka, the former army chief who launched two coups in 1987 and went on to become prime minister, began today with pre-trial legal arguments.

The trial relates to a bloody but unsuccessful mutiny in November 2000 which was linked to the coup.

Rabuka, who has pleaded not guilty, could face a life sentence. Prosecutors say Rabuka incited Lieutenant-Colonel Viliame Seruvakula in July and November 2000 to remove Bainimarama, who barely escaped the mutiny with his life.

Bainimarama declared martial law in a bid to end the May 2000 coup which toppled the government of Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister.

He installed Qarase as interim leader but now accuses him of being too lenient on the those behind the coup and failed mutiny.

Reuters SBA VP0755