Rebel leader suffers defections

SUVA, Fiji - Three soldiers who had been backing Fiji's rebel leader defected Tuesday, leaving the Parliament complex where the prime minister and much of the elected government are being held hostage.

The defections could be a sign that George Speight is losing support within his ranks for his push for a new constitution for this Pacific nation. Speight, a failed businessman, also wants to name the next government.

Fiji's new military ruler, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, refused to grant any more concessions to Speight, who with six masked men stormed Parliament and took government leaders hostage May 19.

Bainimarama set a Tuesday afternoon deadline for army reserves holed up with Speight to return to their barracks. Those who stayed with the rebel leader would lose their military commission and salary, he said. Less than a dozen reservists are believed to be inside the Parliament complex.

The three defectors included Lt. Col. Ratu Vilaime Volavola, whom Speight wanted as a Cabinet member for a new government. The other two were army engineers.

Speight denied that the three men had defected. He accused the military of spreading lies to damage his support, and insisted two of the people who were no longer in the parliamentary compound had been kidnapped by troops.

''They are trying to isolate me,'' Speight told an evening news conference. ''They are trying to dilute my support. That's fine. It doesn't matter. My resolve is firm.''

Shots were fired early Wednesday outside the parliamentary complex, but it appeared to be only a skirmish between troops and rebels who had gone outside to loot, said military spokesman Capt. Eroni Volavola. There were no casualties but one rebel was arrested, Volavola said.

In London, Commonwealth foreign ministers voted Tuesday to suspend Fiji from the organization's councils because of the hostage situation. The action could lead to a suspension of its membership in the organization of Britain and its former colonies, but that decision can be taken only by Commonwealth heads of government.

Speight says he's willing to hold onto the hostages - including the elected Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry - for as long as it takes to get his way.

Bainimarama, meanwhile, insisted the hostage-takers have been promised all the concessions they're going to get so they might as well accept amnesty to end the crisis.

''We will not take any more demands,'' Bainimarama told reporters. ''We are requesting them to release the hostages, return arms and in return, we will grant them amnesty.''

Speight and his rebels are indigenous Fijians; his hostages, like 44 percent of the nation's population, are ethnic Indian. The rebels want Chaudhry, Fiji's first prime minister from the Indian minority, removed from power and Fijians of Indian ancestry barred from leading again in this nation 2,250 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.

The military already has agreed to many of Speight's demands, including scrapping the 1997 constitution and ousting Fiji's president and prime minister.

Only one person has died so far during the standoff - a police officer shot by Speight supporters during street fighting on May 28. Police held a funeral Tuesday at their barracks in Suva for the officer, Filipo Seavula.

Rich trading partners including the United States, Australia and New Zealand have threatened economic sanctions if Fiji doesn't return to democratic rule.