"They alluded to myself revolting and told me to speak to the other officers to convince them the commander was heading in the wrong direction," Driti said Friday in a telephone interview from the capital, Suva. "That to me is inciting mutiny. In the mind of a soldier that is trying to cause a mutiny."

The U.S., British and Australian missions in Fiji denied their ambassadors attempted to incite mutiny in their Nov. 28 meeting with Driti, according to an e-mailed statement.

Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama ousted the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase Dec. 5, after accusing it of corruption. He took the post of caretaker prime minister in January and has rebuffed calls from the U.S., Australia and Pacific nations to hold elections as soon as possible. The U.S., Australia and New Zealand cut defense ties with Fiji after the coup.

The U.S. Ambassador and the High Commissioners of the U.K. and Australia met Driti and the head of the navy, Esala Teleni, to urge the army to "respect constitutional processes and not to undertake a coup," the three missions said in their statement. "The diplomats also outlined the types of sanctions and other measures that might be imposed if a coup occurred."

British High Commissioner Roger Sykes organized the meeting, Driti said. It was held at Suva's Queen Elizabeth barracks while Bainimarama was in Wellington for New Zealand government- brokered talks with Qarase, held on Nov. 30.

"I was shocked to see him bring in the other two ambassadors, if I had known they were coming I wouldn't have agreed to it," Driti said. "They suspected we were going to carry out an overthrow of the government and sort-of suggested I think twice about my support of the commander."

Teleni attended because he was acting commander of the 3,500-strong armed forces in Bainimarama's absence, Driti said, adding Bainimarama called from New Zealand during the discussion.

"I told him what they said and he said just listen to what they say and report to me later," Driti said. "I refused to do what the ambassadors wanted and the conversation got heated and ended rather abruptly and they left."

Sykes asked to speak to army officers before he departed, according to Driti, a request he refused.

"Our bond is more close than it has ever been within the army," Driti said. "There is no opposition because we have educated everyone right down to the youngest soldier."

The military has alleged Qarase requested Australia and New Zealand send troops to Fiji to help control the soldiers in the lead-up to the coup. Australia's Prime Minister John Howard said Dec. 5, after the army took control of Suva, that he rejected a request from Qarase that day.

Bainimarama yesterday suspended the Great Council of Chiefs, a body of tribal leaders that advises the government on constitutional matters and has previously opposed the coup.

The council is a "security risk," Bainimarama said, Fijilive reported on its Web site.

The commander doesn't want the chiefs to meet because they refuse to recognize the authority of the caretaker government, Driti said today. "They are disrespecting us, so we are disrespecting them back."

The Council of Chiefs is influential among the country's ethnic Fijians, who make up 51 percent of the estimated population of 905,000 people. Ethnic Indians make up 44 percent. The council also appoints the president and vice president. The chiefs rejected President Ratu Josefa Iloilo's nominee for vice president at their meeting yesterday, Fijilive said.

Bainimarama exiled Qarase to an island 200 miles from Suva after the coup, an order the former prime minister is trying to challenge in court.

"Security is something we're looking closely at," Driti said today. "The ex-prime minister might stir up trouble if he comes here."

Qarase's lawyer, Tevita Fa, will file a motion to have the travel ban removed in Suva's High Court on April 16, on the grounds it is unconstitutional. Qarase needs to attend court in the capital on April 24 for the first session of his case to have the coup and subsequent installation of an interim government declared illegal, Fa said by telephone from Suva yesterday.

Fiji's fourth coup in 19 years has affected the nation's economy, which is reliant on tourism and sugar production. Tourist arrivals in January this year fell 9 percent from the same period a year ago. Fiji has between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors on average annually.

Economic growth in the 332-island archipelago located 2,000 miles northeast of Australia will probably be "slightly lower" than the previous forecast of 3.6 percent, the central bank said Jan. 31.