FIJI: NEW CABINET SWORN IN

(28 Jul 2000) English/Nat XFA Fiji's president, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, swore in a new Cabinet on Friday, moving to restore calm in the Pacific nation that has been in turmoil since a May 19 coup. The government, led by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, took office two days after coup leader George Speight was arrested and a day after the military said he might face treason. Qarase has pledged to strengthen indigenous Fijians' grip on power in the Pacific island state - the key demand of coup plotters. In a nationwide address following his swearing in, Qarase also promised a government of "moderation, inclusion and compassion" But he said indigenous Fijians would be guaranteed a "special place in our society." The Cabinet, which does not have a single ethnic Indian member, replaces the ousted administration of Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji's first prime minister of Indian descent, who was toppled during the two-month hostage standoff led by Speight. Although the new government is strongly nationalist, it contains no close supporters of Speight, who stormed Parliament on May 19 in the name of ethnic Fijian rights and unleashed a wave of civil unrest. Speight had demanded the Cabinet be stacked with his followers and allegedly threatened the life of President Ratu Josefa Iloilo if that did not happen. But with every post except one held by ethnic Fijians, the Cabinet met one of Speight's original demands - that political power in this Pacific island nation not slip into the hands of Fiji's large ethnic Indian minority. The only non-Fijian was an ethnic Indian named as a junior minister. Speight and an armed gang stormed the Parliament on May 19 and took dozens of lawmakers hostage for two months to protest the election of a prime minister of Indian descent. The removal of Speight supporters from the Cabinet is likely to further anger Speight's supporters, who have already begun making reprisals for the arrest Wednesday of Speight and hundreds of other rebels. On Thursday, supporters kidnapped two New Zealand civilian pilots in retaliation for Speight's arrest. The two were released overnight, military spokesman Major Howard Politini said. Rebel supporters also briefly took up to 50 hostages in another town on Vanua Levu, but released them after being warned of military action, a military spokesman said. Frustrated at continuing intimidation by Speight, who threatened a new round of civil unrest unless he was given greater influence over Fiji's next government, the military decided to move against him and his supporters. After arresting Speight at a checkpoint, dozens of heavily armed troops stormed a school in Suva early on Thursday morning where several hundred Speight supporters had been camped for the past two weeks after they gave up control of Fiji's Parliament, where Speight staged his coup. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Filipo Tarakinikini told a news conference that Speight was arrested for threatening the life of Fiji's new President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, and for refusing to hand in all weapons stolen from the army for his coup. Launching an emergency budget aimed at curbing the economic devastation wreaked by the coup, Qarase, who is currently caretaker prime minister, promised on Thursday to "religiously pursue" a government blueprint which discriminates against ethnic Indians. Speight claims ethnic Indians, who make up 44 percent of Fiji's population, have too much power and are threatening Fijian culture. The Indians were first brought to Fiji in the 1870s by British colonialists as indentured laborers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...