Members of Fiji special forces exchange gunfire with army

SUVA, Fiji Islands (Reuters) -- Members of Fiji's special forces, who backed a May coup, exchanged gunfire with regular army units inside Suva's main barracks on Thursday, said an army officer who fled the barracks.

"The CRW (Counter Revolutionary Warfare unit) are exchanging gunfire with the army inside the barracks," the officer told Reuters as he fled the Queen Elizabeth Barracks.

Reuters correspondent Malakai Veisamasama said the shooting, which started around 1:00 p.m. local time (0100 GMT), was continuing. Two army officer were wounded in the leg and taken to hospital.

Some 20 to 30 army officers were seen running from their headquarters to their residence, where they were barricading themselves inside.

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Guards in front of the barracks were seen running around trying to find out what was happening.

The CRW unit was linked with a coup that rocked Fiji in May when nationalist gunmen stormed parliament in the name of indigenous Fijian rights and ousted the country's first ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.

The military has since installed an interim government and coup leader George Speight is in jail on treason charges awaiting trial.

The Australian embassy in Suva told Reuters it believed the shooting was an attempt to oust Fiji's military commander.

"From what we have been told, the shooting is part of an attempt by the CRW to oust commander Frank Bainimarama from the barracks," said embassy spokesman Dennis Rounds.

"We can confirm that people living near the barracks heard gunfire," said Round. The military had been on local radio confirming the shooting, he said.

Radio station FM96 said roads leading to the barracks, which is situated among homes above Suva's central business district, had been sealed off.

Calls by Reuters to the barracks were not answered.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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