MILITARY OFFICIAL ACCUSES U.S. AMBASSADOR OF

UNCLAS SUVA 000212

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL FJ
SUBJECT: MILITARY OFFICIAL ACCUSES U.S. AMBASSADOR OF
INCITING MUTINY IN FIJI



1. (SBU) Summary: The Commander of Fiji's land forces has
accused the Ambassador of having sought in November 2006 to
incite a mutiny against military forces commander Commodore
Vereqe Bainimarama. In a speech to troops, Colonel Pita
Driti said April 12 that during a November 28 meeting with
then acting commander and Driti, Ambassador Dinger and the UK
and Australia high commissioners "tried to get me to
overthrow the commander" Bainimarama himself made a similar
claim last year. According to media reports, Driti, the
third in command within the Fiji military forces (RFMF),is
quoted in newspaper accounts as saying that if he ever had
the power to do so, he would close the Australia and New
Zealand embassies in Fiji for their criticism of the RFMF's
coup. Other accounts say he threatened the closure of the
U.S. and UK embassies as well. The embassy and the UK and
Australian high commissions have jointly issued a denial to
Driti's claim. End summary.


2. (SBU) RFMF Land Forces Commander Colonel Pita Driti
accused three foreign embassies of inciting mutiny in the
run-up to Fiji's December 5 military coup. Driti told more
than 200 soldiers preparing to depart for UNAMI duties in
Iraq that U.S. Ambassador Larry Dinger, UK High Commissioner
Roger Sykes and Australia High Commissioner Jennifer Rawson
had urged him and then acting RFMF commander, Captain Esala
Teleni, to mutiny against RFMF commander Commodore Voreqe
Bainimarama. Bainimarama was in New Zealand at the time.
According to an account in the Fiji Times, Driti said the
envoys "came in and tried to get me to overthrow the
commander a couple of days before the coup."


3. (SBU) Driti's accusation is not entirely new. Following
the November meeting, a military spokesperson attempted to
characterize the meeting as unannounced, "inappropriate" and
as "trying to incite." He also sought to link the envoys'
call to "foreign intervention." The UK high commissioner
responded at the time with a terse statement that the meeting
had been prearranged (the military claimed otherwise) and
"the subject of foreign military intervention was not raised
in the meeting." Commander Bainimarama himself later echoed
the accusation of incitement to mutiny. In a press statement
April 13, Bainimarama made the same claim (septel).


4. (SBU) In his remarks to the Iraq-bound troops, Driti
singled out Australia and New Zealand for criticism, saying
their reactions to Fiji's coup were unfair, childish and
"full of outright hypocrisy." He is quoted in the Fiji Times
as saying that if he ever came into power, he "might
certainly close the Australian and New Zealand embassies."
Some other reporting implied that he also threatened the U.S.
embassy and UK high commission with closure.


5. (SBU) The U.S., UK and Australian missions issued the
following joint media release on April 13.

Begin text

Joint statement by the U.S. Embassy, Australian High
Commission and British High Commission in response to
comments by Land Force Commander Pita Driti on 12 April 2007

"The U.S. Ambassador and the High Commissioners of the United
Kingdom and Australia met with then acting RFMF Commander
Teleni and Land Forces Commander Driti on 28 November 2006 on
instructions from their governments. The RFMF subsequently
made allegations about that meeting, which the U.S.,
Australia and the UK refuted on 29 November. The object of
the meeting on 28 November was to discuss the ongoing
civil-military crisis, and to urge the RFMF to respect
constitutional processes and to not undertake a coup. The
diplomats also outlined the types of sanctions and other
measures that might be imposed if a coup occurred. There was
no attempt to incite mutiny."

End text.

DINGER