Issue No: 697; 24 April 2001

This was revealed in a TV interview by the Commander of the Third Fiji Infantry Regiment (3FIR) Lt.Col Viliame Seruvakula.

Lt. Seruvakula stated that the 7 included people of all ethnic groups, including ethnic Indian businessmen, ex-army officers, and some serving army officers. He stated that one thing which was common amongst them was that they had huge debts - in some cases requiring 2 generations to repay them, and were tax evaders.

Seruvakula also sated:
· The attempted coup had nothing to do with indigenous rights.
· George Speight was recruited only 3 weeks before the attempted coup to provide a face to the coup;
· The military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama was to be abducted by CRW men on his arrival at Nadi Airport just days after the attempted coup.
· Some senior officers in the military were ready to betray their oaths and join the terrorists. They only refrained when Seruvakula's unit refused to support the terrorists.
· Some officers in the army now are still ant- 3FIR
· The terrorist case was handed over to the military too late by the authorities.
· The military was never trained to face its "own people" [ethnic Fijians]
· The creation of the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit was a wrong decision
· Some chiefs failed in their duties by being part of the terrorist plans
· The call for the release of the terrorists is wrong
· If future coups are to be avoided then the plotters of this attempted coup have to be brought to justice.

Seruvakula also stated that there was a strong likelihood of a confrontation between him and some other officers with pro-terrorist leanings if he stayed longer in the military, hinting that his own personal safety could have been at stake if he remained in Fiji. He has left for a military job in New Zealand.