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SUVA, Fiji (AP) - Fiji's military commander heightened a political crisis Thursday by warning that the prime minister's refusal to resign could plunge this coup-prone South Pacific nation into bloodshed.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's government has sought the ouster of military commander Frank Bainimarama, but he has refused to quit his post. Bainimarama threatened last month to force Qarase to resign unless he dropped two contentious bills, one which would offer amnesty to some of those involved in a 2000 coup. Fiji has seen three coups in the last 19 years.
"The last thing we want to do is have violence, the last thing we want to do is have bloodshed," Bainimarama told New Zealand's National Radio from Egypt, where he is visiting Fijian peacekeeping troops.
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