Fiji Army Soldier Scuffles with Hostage Gunman

SUVA, May 26 (Reuters) - Fiji coup leader George Speight and up to 20 armed men were involved in a tense confrontation with soldiers on Friday near the parliament building where Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry has been held hostage the past week.

Speight and his men left the sprawling parliament complex briefly and walked about 50 metres (165 feet) down the main driveway from parliament, where they shook hands with soldiers and drank kava, a mild narcotic.

But as they attempted to clear a roadblock and allow a car with food supplies into the building, one of Speight's gunmen scuffled with a soldier while others moved the barbed wire and tyre spikes of the roadblock.

The balaclava-clad gunman pointed his semi-automatic rifle at the soldier's chest briefly and shouted in Fijian. An officer at the roadblock, Lieutenant Aisake Daulako, shouted at his men as some crouched in firing positions, ordering them to stand down.

No shots were fired and then Speight and his men moved back into the compound after again shaking hands with the soldiers. The incident lasted only a few minutes.

"We're trying not to use force, we're trying to maintain law and order," Daulako said.