ARBITRATING between CALM and CHAOS: RFMF Chief of Staff Jone Kalouniwai, his military colleagues tell Fijileaks, was one of key targets of the 2000 mutineers where he was held as a hostage at the RFMF camp

8/10/2017

5 Comments

He was only saved after an RFMF sniper managed to shoot Shane Stevens, the leader of the mutineers; Kalouniwai had warned the RFMF leadership three months earlier of the mutiny within QEB by the CRW

* Kalouniwai joined the RFMF Intelligence Unit after a short stint with the CRW unit before the 2000 coup;
* During the 2000 coup he was part of the RFMF operations cell as a staff officer. He was posted back to run the Intelligence Unit as a young captain after the 2000 coup where the task was to monitor all CRW unit members and start the weapons recovery project;
* It was during his stint that he warned the RFMF leadership 3 months earlier of the mutiny within QEB by the CRW;
* Thus was eventually turned down by the senior leadership of Tuatoko, Raduva, Rabukawaqa and Saunulinayau;
* During the 2000 mutiny, the then Captain Kalouniwai was one of the key targets of the mutineers where he was held as a hostage at the RFMF operations center;
* He was only saved after an RFMF sniper managed to shoot Shane Stevens, the leader of the mutineers, which eventually saw the mutineers plan failing

Fijileaks: Our highly placed sources currently in the RFMF headquarters inform us that before 2000, during Ratu Epeli Ganilau's stint as army commander, he directed that all officers under the rank of Captain undergo re-training with the CRW. This was restricted to field training because the physical standard of the officers were below par. So most of the officers did that month long rigorous training regime including Kalouniwai

GODLY ENCOUNTER: Mutineer Shane Stevens meeting Archbishop Mataca

Native Fijians welcoming the Baininimaramas' in San Francisco

5 Comments

Rajend Naidu

8/10/2017 08:20:48 pm

Editor,
Keeping Faith With The People
We read the following inspirational words in Nassim Khadem's article ' Former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett : time for the United States to stand strong on gun control' ( Canberra Times 8/10/17 ) :
" ...While Jarret described Donald Trump's 2016 election win as a " punch to the stomach " and " soul-crushing ", she keeps faith in the American people." The biggest strength we have as Democrats is encouraging people to speak up about what is in their best interest", she tells Fairfax Media ".
We too must keep faith in the Fijian people to change the political trajectory of our beloved country.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Ratu

9/10/2017 05:46:15 am

Wasn't this dude, Colonel Kalouniwai the master mind of the surrender of 45 Fijian peacekeepers in the Golan Heights in Sept 2014 to the jihadist Jabhat Al Nusra front? The Fijian peacekeepers was commandered by Capt Savenaca Siwatibau, the manhandler and deporter of Fiji Sun publisher, Russell Hunter. In that historic backdown by Fijian peacekeepers 70 Filipino peacekeepers refused to surrender like the Fijians and successfully fought their way out from encirclement by the Jabhat Nushra Front. In an almost exact photocopy of that infamous incident 29 Russian Police last week fought off a kidnapping attempt by heavily armed Al Nushra Front jihardists in Syria. The Russian MP commander said afterwards that it was not luck that got them out of that bind. They had trained for such scenarios and were well prepared. They suffered only 3 wounded. Several lessons are found therein. First, for Capt Savenaca Siwatibau and other civilian tormentors what goes round comes round. Second, Bainimarama as the former RFMF Commander and Prime Minister of an interim Govt for 7 long years were either sleeping on the job or too drunk to think straight to send Fiji troops to a Middle East hot spot ill equipped and ill prepared from a war fighting perspective. And Kalouniwai as the senior most Fiji army commander in the Golan Heights must take a large part of the responsibility too. The peacekeeping ethos and the Fiji military incursions into politics have dulled Kalouniwai and other RFMF officers of the state of mind needed to be a profesdion soldier focussed solely on fighting and winning wars and enforcing peace in troubled lands.

Joel

11/10/2017 09:14:39 am

If my memore serves me correctly., the hostage incident happened on 27 August 2014. Kalouniwai was posted to Golan in 2015 and returned in 2017.

Viliame

12/10/2017 12:42:12 pm

@ Ratu. You are applying the wrong criteria to judge the action of Fijian peacekeepers in the Golan. UNDOF was created under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter. You are making judgements on their behavior as if they were put there under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Go educate yourself on the limitations under each Chapter. The Filipinos are no longer welcome in the Golan. Ask yourself why? The Fijians are still there. Ask yourself why?

Bahuki

9/10/2017 06:36:42 am

No wonder the military is often used to wipe some random individual's backside like the pawn that it really is for anyone to use, misuse, and abuse if not be abused.

Well, soldiers as bodyguards while the police act like Gestapo agents who claim to be "keeping the peace" but are robbing everybody of freedom rights to express and speak about against the two despots Frankie and ASK.

Democracy is a bad joke in the country when one has dictators where one is a lackey and the other is literally "a man of many professions" a.k.a Minister for Everything.

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ARBITRATING between CALM and CHAOS: RFMF Chief of Staff Jone Kalouniwai, his military colleagues tell Fijileaks, was one of key targets of the 2000 mutineers where he was held as a hostage at the RFMF camp

He was only saved after an RFMF sniper managed to shoot Shane Stevens, the leader of the mutineers; Kalouniwai had warned the RFMF leadership three months earlier of the mutiny within QEB by the CRW

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