Labasa - Fijian nationalist supporters of the jailed coup leader, Mr George Speight, held about 30 ethnic Indians hostage in a remote farming district yesterday but released them after other villagers intervened.
A witness said a group of 16 youths had taken the ethnic Indians hostage at the remote Dreketi farming settlement for about two hours, but were told they were exacerbating problems on Fiji's second-largest island of Vanua Levu.
"The young men agreed to release them and apologised to the families in the traditional way," said local resident Mr Rafaele Waqa, who helped settle the crisis.