7 Jun 2005

Fiji police commissioner says threatening calls to leaders not a hoax

8:13 pm on 7 June 2005

Fiji's police commissioner says the threatening phone calls made to the prime minister and others last night were not a hoax.

Radio Legend quotes Andrew Hughes as saying they are treating the threats seriously and trying to trace the source of the calls using technology where possible.

Apart from the prime minister, those who received the threatening calls were the minister for home affairs, the attorney general, and the chief executives of the Prime Minister's Office and the home affairs ministry.

Mr Hughes says he consulted the military commander, Commodore Bainimarama, several times last night and was assured that the military was not behind the calls.

Mr Hughes says later today police will be reviewing security for the people involved in the light of their investigations to see what sort of response may be required overnight.

He says the people involved are key office holders and police have to ensure that their response is appropriate.

The military spokesman, Captain Neumi Leweni, said says someone is trying to discredit the military by blaming them for the threatening calls.

And the former prime minister and military commander, Sitiveni Rabuka, says the army cannot be behind the threatening calls but he does not rule out individuals being behind them.