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Friday December 1, 11:29 AM Fiji military chief to watch rugby before coup Photo: Reuters Click to enlarge SUVA (Reuters) - Fiji's military chief maintained his threat on Friday to stage a coup if the government failed to meet his demands, but added he would not act until after the annual military versus police rugby game in Suva later in the day. Military Commander Frank Bainimarama gave Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase a 24-hour ultimatum on Thursday to clean up his government or face a coup, despite winning a series of concessions from the prime minister. "I maintain my demands and the deadline still stands and I will make a commitment to my stand after the rugby match," Bainimarama told Fijian media. "When I will do something, I will let the people know." Bainimarama is scheduled to attend the rugby game starting at 4.00 pm local time (0400 GMT) and hundreds of Fijians have started arriving at the stadium for the game. The Fijian capital Suva was tense, but quiet on Friday as residents waited anxiously to see if the defiant military chief would stage Fiji's fourth coup in 20 years. Bainimarama has repeatedly threatened to remove Qarase's government unless it drops three pieces of legislation, including a bill that would grant amnesty to those involved in a 2000 coup. Qarase suspended the bills on Thursday pending a review, after which he could withdraw them completely. But his concessions were not enough for Bainimarama, who still wants Qarase to remove senior government and public service figures he says were connected to the 2000 coup. Troops staged a three-hour show of force on Thursday by securing parts of the capital in an early morning exercise. FOREIGN INTERVENTION Qarase said on Friday that he was considering asking for foreign intervention to end the long-running political crisis, adding he believed his military chief was mentally unstable. "We are dealing with somebody who is completely deranged and unstable so that's part of the problem," he told Fijian radio. "Nobody knows what he wants...we're just keeping our fingers crossed that he won't go ahead. He's got all the firepower and the rest of the population has got nothing," he said. "Yesterday in the statement I issued publicly I did say there was no consideration of outside intervention, but things are developing and I will have to weigh the options." Australia has sent three naval ships towards Fiji to evacuate its citizens in the event of a coup. An Australian army helicopter on one of the ships crashed into the sea south of Fiji late on Wednesday, killing one Australian soldier and fanning the Fiji military's fears of foreign intervention. Pacific Island Forum foreign ministers are meeting in Sydney on Friday to discuss the crisis under the same regional pact that enabled Australia to lead a mission into the Solomon Islands. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who brokered crisis talks between Qarase and Bainimarama in Wellington on Wednesday, warned Fiji's military chief not to carry out a coup. "We really don't know what the commander wants, unless we assume he himself wants total power over Fiji," she said on New Zealand radio. "That is something the international community is not going to accept." Australia, Britain and New Zealand have advised their nationals against travelling to Fiji and the U.N. Security Council has expressed concern.