Fijian police have arrested 11 people over an alleged plot by dissident army members to assassinate the country's military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, and some members of his Cabinet, a senior official said Sunday, according to AP. The 11 were in custody at the central police station in the capital, Suva, said Fiji's police commissioner, Capt. Esala Teleni, after they were arrested overnight Saturday. «We have rounded up individuals in the alleged plot in the assassination of the prime minister and others,» he told reporters. Teleni said the alleged plotters included prominent members of political parties who want to «bring about instability and conduct insurgent activities in Fiji.» «The plot is said to be well-planned, rehearsed and possibly numerous training (sessions) have been conducted by individuals. The real threat of the use of arms and explosives was imminent,» he said. Bainimarama led a bloodless coup last December that ousted then-Prime Minister Laisenia Qarasem, and then appointed himself interim prime minister. Fijian authorities said they expected to make further arrests over the next few days as investigations continued. Officials did not confirm whether any of those arrested had been charged in relation to the alleged plot. Businessman Ballu Khan, a New Zealand passport holder, was among the first to be detained. Local news reports said he was beaten by police after being taken into custody, but Teleni declined to comment on the allegations. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark condemned the alleged beating. Clark told TVOne News that New Zealand diplomats had been trying to assist Khan since he was detained and ensure his rights were respected. A spokesman for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand diplomatic staff in Suva visited Khan in a hospital, where he was being treated for injuries. «All we know is he has been arrested and he is in hospital now with injuries,» said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity over the issue. Teleni said that efforts were being made «to create an unfavorable environment that may provide excuses to certain lurking nations to interfere in the affairs of Fiji,» a reference taken to mean regional powers Australia and New Zealand. Peters said New Zealand was «not in any way involved in any covert operations» in Fiji. He said it also would be «absurdly false» to suggest New Zealand nongovernment organizations were in any way involved in channeling funds to plotters in Fiji, as the regime had suggested. Bainimarama had been a target of an earlier assassination attempt by dissident troops in November 2000, resulting in eight soldiers being killed. Bainimarama escaped death when he jumped out of a rear window of the officer's mess in the island nation's main military barracks and fled into nearby jungle.
