Though the W/C piece on the Fiji coup was anonymous, an educated guess would be that its author was New Zealand’s leading parapolitical researcher/writer, Owen Wilkes, who turns out immaculately researched material at an astonishing rate. Wilkes has now started his own newsletter, Wellington Pacific Report (details of how to get this at the end of this piece). In WPR Wilkes has continued the documentation of the Fiji coup and what follows is almost entirely extracted from the first six issues. And WPR isn’t just interested in the bits which fit: like all good parapolitics people Wilkes is more interested in the truth than in defending any fixed position.
WPR No 2
“It has been confirmed by Ross Surber of the US Department of State that ex-CIA Director and coup-master, Vernon Walters, met with Colonel Rabuka in Suva two weeks before the coup. (Fiji Sun 6 July 1987). The conversation was supposedly concerned with Fiji Army forces on UN peace-keeping operations in Lebanon.
There have been many independent reports of CIA officers/agents in Suva at the time of the coup. David Robie (New Zealand Outlook July 1987, p43) adds another. He cites CBS news as having identified 11 CIA agents as being present in Fiji at the time of the coup.
Evidence for the US embassy in Suva having advance knowledge of the coup is that riot shutters went up at the windows about half an hour before the coup took place.”
The W/C piece in Lobster 14 remarked on the presence of Paul Freeman in Fiji. WPR adds information on Freeman, mostly from the Fiji Sun 9th July 1987.
“Paul Freeman was involved in a destabilisation action against a NZ labour government in 1975. He received a Security Intelligence Service (SIS) file from an SIS employee, Rohan Jays, with embarrassing information about a Labour MP. Freeman publicly handed the file to the Prime Minister, thus ensuring that a scandal would develop over whatever was in the file. The scandal was exploited by then leader of the opposition (later PM) Robert (piggy) Muldoon. Apparently it had been intended that Freeman hold onto the file and feed out information from it to various opposition candidates during the 1976 election campaign (Evening Post 22 August 1975). Paul Freeman was a real estate entrepreneur (linked with Ian McClean, later MP for Tarawera) and political lobbyist (he claimed to be the only one in NZ) and on one occasion, after drinking, boasted about having been at a CIA training centre in Houston, Texas, although he also denied that he had any connections with the CIA. (NZ Herald 2 August 1975). He had earlier convictions for theft and receiving stolen goods.
In 1977 Freeman was in the news again when he applied for a private investigator’s licence. This was opposed by the NZSIS on the grounds that Freeman had, on several occasions, falsely claimed to be an SIS employee or to be acting on behalf of the SIS. His application was unsuccessful, and in 1978 he turned up in Fiji and set up a firm called External Trade Organisation (ETO). ETO now has branches registered in Auckland, Honiara (Solomons), Taipei (Taiwan). For what it is worth some people in Suva are willing to swear that ETO is a CIA front and that Freeman is the CIA chief there. Freeman seems to enjoy extraordinary close links with several in Mara’s cabinet. He was in Western Samoa when the coup happened, and immediately the news broke he went to ‘American Samoa’, and after a short sojourn there he returned to Suva where he and his secretary spent the best part of a day going through and destroying ETO files. Thereafter he had more than daily contact with Mara associate and cabinet minister Peter Stinson. In July he accompanied Mara on his first post-coup travels to various Asian capitals, seeking trade contacts to substitute for trade links previously maintained with Australia and New Zealand. According to Col. Rabuka, as quoted in the Fiji Times (9th July 1987) the trip was also to investigate arms purchases – helicopters, armoured cars, landing craft, guns and ammunition. Paul Freeman and an ETO executive Rupini Tuiloma (nephew to Rabuka) were part of Rabuka’s entourage.”
Freeman crops up again in WPR No 4
“Paul Freeman, close associate of Ratu Mara and Peter Stinson is boasting in Suva about formerly being employed by the CIA, a good source has told WPR. The same source warned us, however, that what Freeman says does not always turn out to be true….”
Freeman was the subject of a long article by Australian TV journalist, Wendy Bacon, based on a TV programme she did for the Australian SBS company (Somebody’s Man in Fiji, The Listener December 26 1987). Freeman looks like a CIA agent, actually boasts (eg to Bacon) that he is CIA, and he has ex US military and special forces people working for him. He fits the bill almost too well …. (That ‘Listener’, incidentally, is the Australian Listener, not the UK version).
In WPR No5 Wilkes reports on official US government refutation of the alleged US involvement in the coup, written by a USIS officer in Wellington. We reprint this here. The annotations and comments are by Wilkes.
East/West Issues
USIS
DISINFORMATION AND THE FIJI MILITARY COUP
On May 14, 1987, Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka seized power in a military coup in Fiji, displacing the elected government of Dr. Timoci Bavadra.
A
Background
Communist media were quick to imply some U.S. involvement in the coup. Many of these implications were repeated by non-communist media world-wide, and in some cases repeated and cross-sourced until they assumed a mantle of veracity.
B
The Czechoslovak Communist Party daily “Rude Pravo” on May 18 carried a front-page article charging the U.S. with involvement in the coup. The article implies a connection between the visit of Vernon Walters and the coup, said U.S. citizens took part in the coup, and also drew attention to the anti-nuclear policies of the newly-elected government. Some of the material was sourced to the British “News on Sunday”.
C
Moves to implicate Vernon Walters in the coup were also made by New Zealand “peace researcher” Owen Wilkes whose claims were carried by “The Press” (Christchurch) on May 16. Following the allegations by Dr. Anthony, Wilkes revived his claims which were carried by some of the private radio stations.
Radio New Zealand’s “Morning Report” on May 19 carried further allegations of U.S. involvement. Dr. Wayne Robinson, a senior lecturer in politics at Waikato University claimed American influence behind the coup. He further claimed that U.S. Military intelligence about the supposed Libyan involvement in Vanuatu was supplied by Vernon Walters and was a subject of discussion between Prime minister David Lange and Australian Foreign Minister Bill Hayden. Robinson said this was to provide a diversion and set the scene for what was going to happen in Fiji. He also implied some sort of understanding between former Fiji Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and unnamed Americans.
On May 15, the “Sydney Morning Herald”, commenting on the coup, said, “There is no evidence that outside powers played any part…” However, on May 18 the “Sydney Morning Herald” published from Fiji a major article by Mary-Louise O’Callaghan and Tony Stephens headed “CIA Link With Coup Claim”. The article said five employees of the CIA were active in Fiji and one of them had been present in Parliament House when the coup took place. O’Callaghan and Stephens attributed their claims to a “senior intelligence source” and said although there was circumstantial evidence for CIA involvement, theories also included Libyan, Iranian and Russian intervention.
This theme was repeated by Sydney journalist Peter Fray in a second part to the article. Fray said several speakers at a Fijian rally in Sydney had spoken of “strong circumstantial evidence of either CIA or Pentagon involvement”. Evidence for these allegations included a build-up of U.S. naval activity in the South Pacific.
On May 16, Papua New Guinea’s “Weekend Nuis” carried two wire service reports from. Australia. One article quoted the spokesman for the anti-nuclear group “People for Nuclear Disarmament”, Richard Bolt, who said that prior knowledge of the coup by the U.S. and Australian governments was “a distinct possibility’. The other
D
The “Sydney Morning Herald” (SMH), on May 19, published a report by David McKnight headed “The CIA’s Long Interest in the Pacific”. McKnight focussed on a meeting of the “Pacific Basin Development”‘ project designed to be undertaken in conjunction with the Pacific Democrat Union (PDU) which was meeting in Fiji at the time of the coup. McKnight’s article opened with a reference to “the presence of an official from the Central Intelligence Agency in the Fiji parliament.” at the time of the coup. The “senior intelligence source” quote of the day before in the SMH had somehow become an actual presence of an official. Again this was presented with no supporting evidence or comment.
E
The PDU – main target of McKnight’s article – membership consists of conservative political parties from Australia, Canada, Columbia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, and
F
Funding for the meeting was provided by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a U.S. private bipartisan organization which openly funds democracy-building programs which are carried out by Institutes of Labor and Business, the Republican and Democratic political parties and a number of other private sector organizations. Substantial disinformation efforts have been directed against the NED in the past.
On 20 May, Australia’s “Network Nine” current affairs program interviewed, via satellite, former CIA agent Ralph McGehee. According to McGehee, the events in Fiji matched the pattern “of how the Agency goes around the world overturning democratically-elected governments” and replacing them with military dictatorships. These charges were consistent with McGehee’s practice of tailoring allegations to fit the country under discussion at the time. He also took the opportunity to repeat his belief that the CIA was involved in trying to overthrow the Lange government in New Zealand.
The weekly Times of Papua New Guinea on May 28 carried an article which referred to “a letter from a friend at the University of South Pacific in Fiji”. Supposedly written on May 1, the letter accused the U.S. of conducting a destabilization campaign against the Bavadra government.
A letter to the editor in Papua New Guinea’s leading daily “Post-Courier” of May 30, supposedly from an American citizen, endorsed the military coup and lauded U.S. Government involvement. The newspaper would not confirm that such a person existed and refused to give an assurance of the letter’s authenticity.
G
Tass quoted “New Zealand peace activist Gerald O’Brien”, in an interview with the Japanese Communist Party newspaper “Akahata”, as saying that “a lot of U.S. servicemen and other agents, operating under the cover of the notorious Peace Corps, were involved in the coup.” [The Peace Corps is the American equivalent of New Zealand’s Volunteer Service Abroad scheme.] Tass identified O’Brien as a member of the New Zealand Peace Council, an affiliate of the World Peace Council (a Soviet-sponsored front).
H
On June 7, Zimbabwe’s “Harare Sunday Mail” carried a further article by an unidentified “special correspondent” which repeated allegations that the U.S. was behind the Fiji coup.
As “evidence” it cited the visit to Fiji by Ambassador Vernon Walters, U.S. pressure on New Zealand over ship visit bans, and what they termed “the recent barrage of U.S. propaganda on growing Libyan interest in the South Pacific.”
Other newspapers from across the political spectrum which carried or repeated similar articles on the Fiji coup included India’s “Deccan Herald”, May 19; Finland’s “Tiedonantaja”, May 22; Britain’s “Guardian”, May 31; Malta’s “Il-helsien”, June 5; Botswana’s “Mmegi Wa Dikgang”, June 6.
I
Dr. Bavadra told his audience that six of the ten men who entered parliament and arrested his government were U.S. citizens; U.S. officials had known in advance of the coup; the coup had been funded by William Paupe, regional director of the U.S. AID program; that Paupe was a CIA agent who had channelled US$200,000 to the former Alliance Party minister Tora for the purpose of undermining the Bavadra government; and that U.N. Ambassador Vernon Walters and retired general John Singlaub were in Fiji at the time of the coup.
These charges were carried by media world-wide, in many cases regarded as “proof” of earlier speculation.
Following the technique of quoting Western publications to revive disinformation campaigns, the “Press Trust of India” (PTI) carried a news release on the Fiji coup. The release quoted the New York magazine The Nation as the source. The PTI release was carried in several English-language newspapers including the pro-Soviet Patriot” on September 12, in the prestigious daily The Statesman on September 13, the weekly Sunday Observer on September 13 and in the business-oriented daily Financial Express on September 14.
This article levelled many charges to provide “proof” that the U.S. was responsible for the coup in Fiji. It said, in part; “The USA had been looking for bases for its armed forces in the region. It was ‘eyeing’ properties for a naval and air base on the country’s second largest island of Vanua Levu.”
The article also, characteristically, presented many of its “facts” in the form of sweeping statements – eg: “Ratu Mara paid regular visits to the U.S. Pacific Command (CINCPAC) headquarters in Hawaii and kept in touch with pro-American elements, including one Mr. William Paupe, Director of the South Pacific Regional Office of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The article continued: “Mr. Paupe, whose record shows his very close connections with organizations having CIA links … ” “…Ratu Mara, Col. Rabuka and two CIA men were seen together …” “… On May 14 Lt. Col. Rabuka stormed Parliament taking many officials and members of the Bavadra government hostage. Ratu Mara himself told an AP correspondent that he knew and approved of the coup in advance”, the article said.
The PTI release repeated many of the allegations carried in the original release and also built on the statement by former Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Noor Dean, that he was convinced the men who arrested him “were not Fijians”.
J
“While Mr. Terrell says that four C-130’s may have been in Fiji around the time of the coup, Mr. Noor Dean said that a U.S. C-130 carrying 15 American troops landed unannounced and uncleared at Fiji’s Nadi International Airport two days before the coup.”
The article also claimed that William Paupe gave a minister in Ratu Mara’s government, Mr Apisai Tora, a substantial amount of money “to foment anti-government demonstrations and racial riots” after Dr. Bavadra assumed power. This allegation has appeared in a number of publications with the amount of money ranging from $200,000 to $2 million.
K
“Wellington Confidential” attempts to model itself on a U.S. publication “Covert Action Information Bulletin” which claims to reveal U.S. intelligence activity, but often replays Soviet propaganda and disinformation themes.
L
A careful blend of known fact with innuendo and outright lies, repeated often enough to an uncritical audience, gathers credibility, especially if unthinkingly repeated by an established and reputable media outlet.
In the race to be “first with the news,” the media seldom, if at all, spent any time on checking the veracity of claims, nor the background and motives of some individuals ready to “prove” U.S. involvement in the coup.
The Facts
Much of the disinformation which has surfaced concerning the coup in Fiji has named individuals and linked them with supposed dates or events.
M
N
The Fiji elections held April 12 resulted in the election of the Bavadra government. Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra was sworn in by the Governor-General on April 13 and announced his cabinet April 14.
Between April 15 and 25 non-violent protests took place in Suva and elsewhere over the election of the Bavadra coalition government.
Ambassador Walters arrived in Fiji April 28 to discuss U.N. related matters which included a meeting April 29 with Coalition Foreign Minister Krishna Datt. Ambassador Walters did meet with Lt. Colonel Rabuka as claimed, however, the reports failed to add that Lt. Colonel Rabuka was in the presence of his Commanding Officer as he briefed Ambassador Walters on the Fiji battalion’s peacekeeping role in the Sinai. The meeting was not, as inferred, some clandestine affair.
Ambassador Walters left Fiji April 30 (9:00am) for Western Samoa.
On May 14 Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka seized power in a military coup.
Because Ambassador Walters held an executive position with the CIA some years ago, conspiracy theorists find it convenient to believe he is still “active” and have been quick to hold him responsible for trouble in any of the many countries he has visited over the years. Their knee-jerk reaction of linking Ambassador Walters to the Fiji coup, simply because he had been in the country close to when the coup took place, was an expected and somewhat familiar move.
The U.S. Government condemned the coup and also suspended all aid and direct assistance to Fiji. This suspension was made under the terms of a U.S. law which applies if a government is overthrown by illegal or violent means.
This suspension of aid has not been given a high profile by those claiming the U.S. has been granting “massive” security aid to Fiji.
O
Vague and non-specific claims of various forms of U.S. military assistance to Fiji continue to surface from time to time, despite the fact that all military assistance was suspended on the day of the coup.
In a Radio NZ phone interview an May 18, Dr. James Anthony dwelt at length on USAID South Pacific Director William Paupe’s attendance at a meeting of the Pacific Islands Development Program (PIPD) Standing Committee meeting in Honolulu April 27-28. Some effort was made to establish a link relating to the coup between William Paupe and Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara who also attended the meeting. “Facts” were quoted to show that Paupe and Ratu Mara “were always together”.
In fact, Paupe was invited to attend the meeting by the Director of PDIP and traveled separately from Ratu Mara.
Dr. Anthony states: “When Mara goes to this meeting at the East-West Center, Bill Paupe is with him”. The same statement could be made of all the attendees at the PDIP conference. As one of those attending the meeting, William Paupe was in the same venue as Ratu Mara. One of the functions at which Paupe and Mara were both present was a dinner on the evening of April 28. This was hosted by the East-West Center President Victor Li and was in honor of the resigning Chairman of the PDIP Standing Committee. The guests of honor were Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and his wife.
It was patently untrue that, as Dr. Anthony stated, “Bill Paupe is with him (Mara) all the time.” Paupe did not stay in the same hotel as Mara.
P
Q
William Paupe, in a letter published in the Fiji Times July 6, wrote: “USAID (Vietnam) was able to carry out a number of beneficial programs in public health and nutrition, education, agriculture development, and rural and community development. My own involvement in those activities was to assist in the management of a massive public health program, a highly visible and not at all sinister endeavor.”
This is not the first time that Dr. James Anthony has made allegations of U.S. involvement in island affairs. He has misrepresented U.S. Motives and criticized any U.S. involvement in the South Pacific region at a variety of fora for several years.
It is ironic that, contrary to Anthony’s claims, William Paupe spent much more time with the new Bavadra government leaders, including a meeting with Timoci Bavadra to discuss development issues, during the period immediately preceeding the coup than with any Alliance politicians or with Ratu Mara.
Finally, the allegations regarding C-130 aircraft visits do not match mission records and service logs which show there were no U.S. C-130 aircraft in Fiji around the time of the May 14 coup. A chronology of all U.S. C-130 landings in Fiji before and after the coup shows the following:
R
- February 02
- A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 Search and Rescue aircraft was in Nadi for a meeting with the Fiji Civil Aviation Authority.
- June 08-09
- A C-130 USNS “Mercy” (hospital ship) support aircraft landed at Nadi and Nausori to pick up 30 Fiji School of Medicine students and staff to transport them to Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.
- A C-130 “Mercy” support aircraft landed at Nadi to drop off seven “Mercy” medical personnel in transit to Tuvalu by commercial aircraft on June 14.
- June 20-22
- Three C-130 aircraft arrived and departed Nadi in connection with a medical evacuation from the USS “Bellau Wood”, which was then west of Fiji after a visit to Sydney. The evacuation was well publicized and involved a young sailor injured in a fall.
- June 26-30
- Two C-130 “Mercy” support aircraft landed in Nausori and one at Nadi to drop off 30 passengers for USNS “Mercy” teams from Tonga and Kiribati and to transport 12 passengers to Guam.
June 13-14
All of the landings were cleared through normal diplomatic channels. None carried troops to Fiji, nor were any arrivals hidden from public view.
Conclusion
S
Media outlets appeared more ready to embrace the spectacular claims than to look more closely at some of the domestic elements behind the coup.
Speaking in general, not much attention was given initially to traditional tensions between Fijians and Indians in Fiji, nor the long-time concern of Fijians with their land.
Claims by conspiracy theorists that “the CIA was behind the coup” immediately captured the continuing attention of some journalists who seemed unconvinced that Fiji’s domestic problems could be the reason behind the coup. Whether this attitude was caused by a basic ignorance of Pacific affairs or pursuit of the “easy story” remains unclear.
- Not true. The US stated its opposition to overthrow of democratic governments in general but did not condemn this coup.
- The first paragraph is not supported by the following paragraphs. What is demonstrated is merely that the Soviet bloc media made their usual knee-jerk response. No examples are quoted of Western media or peace movements repeating the unsubstantiated Soviet allegations.
- As the cited dates show, allegations in the West about US involvement appeared simultaneously or earlier than they appeared in Soviet bloc media.
- Funnily enough the USIS did not pick up on David Weisbrot disowning the allegations attributed to him – it was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald a few days later.
- The Sam Lipski quotes in fact refer to the O’Callaghan/ Stephens story mentioned four paragraphs earlier, not to the McKnight story. What Lipski also wrote, but which the USIS did not quote, was that “Tony Stephens is confident that his source was reliable.”
- Another strange mistake – the hotel registers and news reports at the time indicated that it was Ms Margaret Eardley-Wilmot, not Brian E-W. Or does USIS know more about the PDU conference than we do?
- This illustrates the normal pattern of Soviet bloc reporting of events in the West – apart from initial knee-jerk reactions (see B) they are content to repeat allegations already made in western media rather than introduce fresh information based on their own investigations. In general Soviet-bloc media selectively plagiarise western media, and not the other way round as Gould claims.
- O’Brien claims that while mentioning Peace Corps people being in Fiji, he did not claim they were responsible for the coup.
- It was unfortunate that Bavadra made these wild allegations, which WPR understands he has since withdrawn. It is believed that it was Jim Anthony who pressured Bavadra into making them, and that Noor Dean and Jack Terrell embroidered upon them. There is ample evidence that the soldiers who raided parliament were Fijian.
- Jack Terrell’s claims are indeed rubbish. He had no first-hand knowledge of Fiji events.
- It is interesting that while accusing Wellington Confidential of being filled with “unsupported allegations, innuendo, conspiracy and inaccuracy” not a single example of these supposed failings is actually quoted or refuted.
- This paragraph is quite incomprehensible. What forgery in what third world newspaper? PTI was in fact quoting the US weekly Nation, as mentioned 10 paragraphs earlier.
- Protocol slip: the hereditary title should precede the bestowed title: hence Ratu Sir Kamisese.
- Vernon Walters certainly did make a ‘special’ trip to Fiji. On what previous occasion has someone as important as Walters spent 3 days in a place as unimportant as Fiji? Certainly he visited 9 other Pacific countries – and left a trail of Libyan scare stories which aided the coup. Certainly his trip was planned well before the Fiji election – but well after it was known that there would be an election, and that Bavadra’s Coalition had a good chance of winning it.
- In addition the US pays all expenses for 500 Fiji soldiers in the Sinai. This produces a substantial foreign currency surplus for the Fiji government. The US has continued to pay for all these expenses, amounting to perhaps US$5 million per year. Only about one twelfth of US payments to the Fiji military have been suspended.
- Another strange discrepancy. As noted in WPR No 2, a CINCPAC source says that Paupe did visit CINCPAC, but Mara did not. USIS and CINCPAC apparently don’t try to make their refutations compatible.
- The title ‘special operations officer’ is quite likely an invention of Anthony’s, but there is still evidence, which will be presented in future WPR issues, that Paupe was working for the CIA in Vietnam, and subsequently in Korea.
- This is the most fascinating revelation of all. Prior to the coup there had been only one US military aircraft visit to Fiji in four months. In one month alone following the coup there were eight aircraft on four occasions. We are asked to believe that these were all ‘medical’ missions. See following item.
- The conclusions do not tally with the rest of the report or with what happened in the wake of the coup. By far the bulk of western reporting about the coup was concerned more with racial and tribal interpretations of the coup. Hardly any western newspapers picked up the Sydney Morning Herald stories about CIA activity.The USIS has totally failed to prove any ‘active’ or ‘passive’ disinformation activity, with the possible exception of O’Brien’s reported allegation about the Peace Corps. The final ‘NB’ is laughable – the USIS has failed to disprove any of the serious allegations about US involvement in the coup, but has concentrated instead on disproving what is already obviously rubbish – e.g. the allegations that the coup was carried out by US marines. Fully one fifth of the paper is taken up with quoting and refuting the patently untrue allegations of Jim Anthony.
Rather than disputing the facts Mr Gould has tried to squeeze them into the standard USIS ‘Soviet disinformation’ mould. And they just don’t fit. One standard USIS thesis is that Soviet bloc media promulgate the official line on a particular incident and western peace movements then slavishly follow and repeat the line. Another standard (and somewhat contradictory) thesis is that the Soviet Union ‘plants’ disinformation in obscure third world publications so that Soviet-bloc media can discover and repeat the disinformation as fact. Gould conspicuously fails to prove either thesis. He also fails to disprove the thesis that the US was involved in the coup.
Owen Wilkes
In WPR No 6 Wilkes suggests that the USIS piece was, in fact, intended as a pre-emptive strike against the Wendy Bacon TV piece, broadcast on 15th November 1987 (the USIS piece was 28th October). The Bacon piece was followed next day by a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald (November 16th) by US Ambassador (to Australia, presumably) William Lane Jnr. On this Wilkes commented in WPR No6:
“It (Lane’s piece) responded to ‘allegations that the US was involved in the two military coups’, although, as far as WPR knows, no-one is suggesting that the US was involved in coup 2. Lane doesn’t really answer any allegations – he instead points out that since May 18 he himself has consistently labelled all such allegations as “utterly ridiculous”, as though this somehow proves (or disproves) something. He backs this up by noting that the US government now has no ambassador in Fiji, has advised US citizens not to travel to Fiji, and has called for democracy to be restored in Fiji, as though these actions somehow prove US non-complicity.
Straw-man Jim Anthony (who caused Bavadra considerable embarrassment by claiming in his name in Washington, on purloined Fiji embassy letterhead, that US marines, not Fijians, carried out the coup) was knocked down yet again; the US government had ‘no evidence that Gen. John Singlaub was involved’ etc. “
One final piece. In the Australian paper Tribune (25th November 1987) Denis Freney reported that the stepson of the current Fijian Minister for Fijian Affairs, Rati Meli Vesikula, had recently left the British Army, had been serving in Northern Ireland as an intelligence officer, and had been a member of the National Front. Freney reports that Vesikula himself had spent 23 years in the British Army, much of it in Northern Ireland. Can anybody supply more information on either of these two people? And the Fijian SAS?
GETTING WPR
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