Neighbours call crisis meeting as coup fears grow in Fiji

Suva: Fears of an imminent coup in Fiji grew on Monday as Australia and New Zealand warned their citizens to avoid travel to the island nation and South Pacific neighbours called a regional crisis meeting.

Small groups of armed soldiers patrolled the streets of the capital, Suva, while others dressed in camouflage uniforms guarded the president's residence. Hundreds of army reservists have been recalled for unscheduled exercises.

Fiji Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, who is at the centre of a stand-off with the nation's defiant military chief, warned that the likelihood of a fourth coup in 20 years had become "too close for comfort".

"This week, I think, is going to be a critical turning point in the whole thing," Hughes told New Zealand radio.

The warning came as police continued investigations into whether military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama should be charged with sedition over his repeated threats to remove Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.

Bainimarama has repeatedly threatened to remove Qarase's government unless it drops several pieces of contentious legislation, including a Bill that would grant amnesty to those involved in a coup in 2000.

Last week Bainimarama delivered the government a list of non-negotiable demands and a two-week deadline to comply, at the same time threatening a "clean-up" of the Qarase government.