US rejects assistant information minister
Title -- 3825 FIJI: US rejects assistant information minister
Date -- 4 November 2002
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- Daily Post/FijiLive 4/11/2
Copyright -- DP/FL
Status -- Unabridged
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US REJECTS KAITANI
www.fijilive.com/news/news.php3?art=04/04i.htm
SUVA (Daily Post/FijiLive/Pacific Media Watch): Fiji's Assistant Information Minister Simione Kaitani -- implicated in the May 2002 attempted coup -- has confirmed that he will not be able to travel to the United States of America until his name is cleared from its blacklist, the Daily Post reports.
The minister said yesterday his visa to travel to Hawai'i was rejected by the American Embassy a month ago when he had needed to travel to Hawai'i to attend Fiji Day celebrations.
Kaitani claims he was faced with the problem because he was seen with coup frontman George Speight and his men on television at the height of the political crisis in May 2000.
“I am an innocent man and I do not understand why I am going through all this. I do not deny that I was with Speight at the Parliament during the coup," he said.
"I was with him but I had a role to play. I was at the Parliament to calm the extremist elements present at the Parliament complex.
“This did not mean I took part in the coup with Speight. And if I have to do it again, I would do it. My role was an important one at that time and what I did was for Fiji.”
He said he was innocent and did not deserve to be penalised.
“The negotiation with the American Embassy is still going on and I am hopeful the ban would be lifted soon,” he said.
He said Australia and Britain had no problems with him.
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