Issue No: 722; 2 May 2001

The claim is contained in a 6-page report which the CRW soldiers compiled on the military. The soldiers are now charged with mutiny for their role in the 2 November attempted coup. The CRW unit was created by Sitiveni Rabuka when he was the military commander.

The report states that the Commander of the military, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama "relayed to his fellow officers that he agreed with an idea to negotiate with George Speight, for all civilians to return home and let the army to complete the takeover. A group led by Waqanisau opposed the commander and they later convince him to change his decision."

"Waqanisau later led a group of officers and non commissioned officers to present a tabua at parliament showing their support. One wonders why they did not agree with commander and went ahead with a presentation at parliament. During the survey I found out that this group are still with the army and they are receiving fortnight salaries apart from their pension package. They are only with the army to fill their pockets and not to serve."

Waqanisau is now the Official Secretary in the President's Office. Prior to this, he was the Permanent Secretary in Qarase's Ministry of National reconciliation. Before this he was a Deputy Secretary in the Regional Development ministry but during the terrorist crisis, he was with the military. Waqanisau was an unsuccessful contender for the post of the Commander of the Fiji Military Forces.

As Permanent Secretary for Qarase, Waqanisau had claimed that the efforts at national reconciliation were hindered by the investigations into the terrorist activities.

Yesterday he stated that the former President's claim that Rabuka and Savua were involved with the terrorists are wild accusations, and that there will be no further investigation into the involvement of Savua.

Yesterday he also denied that a report on the involvement of senior military officers with the terrorists was given to the President.