Fiji army enters police compounds, amid coup fears

SUVA, Dec 4 (Reuters) Fijian troops entered key police installations around the capital, Suva, and removed weapons today amid fears of an imminent coup in the South Pacific island nation, witnesses said.

Six truckloads of heavily armed troops arrived at the police tactical response unit's headquarters, the only armed police unit, and shortly afterwards began removing weapons from the armoury.

''The army asked to examine what weapons this unit has. It is not violent,'' Assistant Police Commissioner Moses Driver told Fiji radio.

Across town soldiers entered another police armoury.

''We are hopeful that no confrontation of any sort is going to occur. The Fiji police appeal to members of the public to remain calm,'' Driver said.

The nation's military chief, Commander Frank Bainimarama, has threatened to topple Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's government on Monday, claiming it is corrupt, but says it will be a peaceful transition.

Qarase earlier told Fijian radio that he remained in control.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the military was trying to ''slowly take control'' as there was a split in its ranks over whether to stage a coup.

''They are now reaching a point, the military, where they are trying to persuade the prime minister to stand down without actually mounting a coup,'' Downer told Australian radio.

RESISTANCE ''My guess is that within the military there is a fair bit of resistance to these tactics and quite a lot of resistance to a coup. There isn't an inclination to mutiny against the commander, so it's a torturously complicated situation.'' A military spokesman was not returning phone calls.

Qarase and Bainimarama have been embroiled in a power struggle all year. Bainimarama gave the government a list of ''non-negotiable'' demands a fortnight ago and threatened a ''clean-up campaign''.

Fijian newspapers expected he would act soon.

''Point of No Return,'' the Fiji Sun newspaper said on its front page. It called on the military to end the uncertainty because ''the whole nation is engulfed in fear''.

The Fiji Daily Post said Bainimarama had drawn up a 13-member interim cabinet to be led by an unidentified member of Qarase's government as interim premier.

It quoted unidentified sources as saying that the list included two former prime ministers and that Bainimarama had chosen a portfolio for himself.

PM REFUSES TO YIELD Bainimarama told Fiji television on Sunday that he expected Qarase's government, re-elected in May for a second five-year term, to ''give in peacefully'' and leave office.

Qarase in turn has called an emergency cabinet meeting for tomorrow and has refused to bow to Bainimarama's threats. He tried to have the outspoken commander replaced last month but the military stood firm behind its leader.

Bainimarama installed Qarase as interim leader after declaring martial law to put down Fiji's last coup in 2000, but now accuses him of being too soft on the coup plotters and a subsequent failed but bloody mutiny in which Bainimarama was almost killed.

Fiji's latest political crisis has alarmed its South Pacific neighbours, with Australia sending three naval ships to the area in case it needs to evacuate holidaying nationals.

Bainimarama has said his military would oppose any foreign intervention.

The United States, Britain and the United Nations have all warned Bainimarama not to attempt to take over the government, with concerns that another coup would devastate the fragile local economy based on tourism and sugar.

REUTERS SRS BST0800