Issue No: 545; 3 March 2001

Today's Daily Post reports that the Military's Commander in the Western Division, Lt. Henry Manulevu has asked the public to appreciate and abide by the decision.

He is quoted as saying:
"We plead to the people to respect the decision that was made by the Court of Appeal and should not start over-reacting on the judgment made. The military is here to provide law and order in the country and our main priority is to provide security to the public at large. The security forces are still patrolling the streets and are closely monitoring the movement of the people".

Lt. Manulevu further stated:
"The military has sent out early warning to the people who are planning to bring further instability to the country who are not in favour of the judgment. We just hope that good sense will prevail and people who are wanting to do illegal things should sit back and have a good look at the past months where people have suffered because of acts of some people who have no national pride".

Lt. Manulevu, however, stated that it was now up to the Qarase regime to decide their course of action.

Meanwhile, many people have reported that the military and the police have withdrawn from the checkpoints in Suva and other areas from midday Friday. Some weeks ago, the military had withdrawn from frontline services and handed back to the police the authority for internal security. It stated that it will only come in on the request of the Police Commissioner, Isikia Savua. It is not known whether it was Savua who asked for the dismantling of the checkpoints.