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Nightmare in Fiji paradise as youths attack Indian families

Fiji's ethnic Indians in Dreketi, a remote and beautiful valley, are being terrorised daily as men are kidnapped and women and children are forced to hide in fear of their lives.

An AFP correspondent and photographer were the first to arrive in the area which until now has been the subject of rumour and speculation in distant Suva.

The rice-growing region is a rugged 80 km drive from Labasa, the main town on Vanua Levu, Fiji's northern island.

The people of Labasa have spent much of the past two months living on the edge of anarchy as rebels loyal to failed coup leader George Speight hold sway.

Armed boys as young as 14 roam the area in stolen pick-up trucks, plundering at will.

Dreketi is now a valley of fear, where women and children spend their days hiding in dry riverbeds, where rice crops have been destroyed and where Fiji's authorities have abandoned the region's Indians to their fate.

"We live here in so much fear," said one farmer, "its better if they kill us."

Of the 90,000 people living in the Macuata area, 60,000 are ethnic Indian.

The road from Labasa winds through breathtaking scenery and passes through Seaqaqa, where former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara owns a farm.

The land is now a pathetic sight after rebels last week set fire to the buildings and burnt his crops, destroying a piece of paradise and leaving nothing untouched.

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