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 SUVA, Fiji (AP) - Authorities said Monday they have arrested 16 people and charged three of them with treason in an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Fiji's military leader, while Australia and New Zealand angrily rejected suggestions they were involved.
The 16 people were arrested over the weekend in what police said was a foiled plot by dissident troops and others against army chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama. The military leader seized power in a bloodless coup in December and declared himself interim prime minister of the Pacific island nation.
Police commissioner Esala Teleni declined to identify the three charged Monday with treason, inciting mutiny and conspiracy to murder. He said a fourth man, New Zealand businessman Ballu Khan, also would be charged in the plot when he is released from a hospital.
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