SUVA, Fiji — Captors tearfully hugged captives in an emotional end Thursday to a two-month parliamentary hostage crisis that inflamed ethnic tensions in Fiji and ravaged the South Pacific nation's crucial tourist industry.
Hours after the release of the last 18 hostages seized by rebels May 19, the Great Council of Chiefs--Fiji's traditional power--elected Ratu Josefa Iloilo as the country's president. Iloilo was rebel leader George Speight's handpicked nominee.
A vastly different Fiji emerges from the crisis. The elected government is gone, ethnic tensions remain inflamed, and the tourist industry is ravaged. The United States and other countries have urged their citizens to leave, and the island nation faces the possibility of international sanctions.
In the last week, rebel supporters have engaged in widespread civil disturbances across the nation, occupying police stations and blockading roads. But there was palpable relief that the hostage crisis, which led to the ouster of Fiji's elected government and a subsequent military takeover, was over.