Word: fiji
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
DIED. RATU SIR KAMISESE MARA, 83, founding father of Fiji who helped guide the Pacific island to independence after 96 years of British colonial rule; in Suva, Fiji. An important U.S. ally during the cold war, he served as Prime Minister for 25 years before becoming President in a 1993 coup but was forced to retire in 2000 after an armed gang held the Prime Minister and Cabinet hostage for 56 days...
...leaders accused him of selling the country out to Indo-Fijians, he stood down under pressure from the military. The turmoil of recent Fijian politics only served to underscore Mara's achievement. Imperious he may have been - visitors were enjoined to approach him on their knees - but he gave Fiji the basis of a stable democracy and laid the foundations of its current prosperity. And he never stopped reminding Fijians that racism was the enemy of both...
...DIED. RATU SIR KAMISESE MARA, 83, Fiji's first Prime Minister and a leader of the nation for three decades after its 1970 independence; in Suva. Born into a family of clan chieftains, Mara helped draft a constitution that sought to balance the rights of native Fijians and residents of Indian descent prior to the end of British rule. He served as Prime Minister from 1970 to 1992, aligning the country against communism, and was appointed to the largely ceremonial presidency in 1993, only to be forced out in 2000 when an armed gang stormed the Parliament and held...
...Mamanuca Island, Fiji (coralcay.org) Explore the South Pacific's many pelagic pleasures while checking on the health of coral reefs. Marine conservation volunteers from around the world are your dive buddies; expeditions, from two weeks upward, depart year-round...
...soldier collection for about $600,000; in 2002, some 60 Faberge objects for nearly $6 million. Other items have been sold as well, including the manuscript of Abraham Lincoln's last speech and a trove of other presidential documents, a 727 jet named Capitalist Tool and real estate in Fiji and Tangier, Morocco...