Fiji's president has appealed to embattled Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to resign, as the military tightens its grip on the capital, local radio has reported.The appeal by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo came after military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama visited the president this morning. Qarase, meeting in his home with members of his cabinet as troops surrounded the house, said a military takeover was inevitable and he was waiting to be taken into custody.
Qarase, in a radio interview, said he had been asked by the president to give in to all of the military's demands, or resign. However he said he had refused the request. Earlier, soldiers briefly secured the street around the prime minister's house in Suva and confiscated his vehicles.