This, I knew from reading about the 17 previous coups here over the past 60 years, was a telltale sign of a military takeover.

A colonel at the time of the previous coup, Mau had been head of military security under Diem.

This had allowed him to help engineer the previous coup.

Mataca said that such a stance was hypocritical, as the organizations had failed to condemn the previous coup of 2000.

Bainimarama, concerned that the legal and racial injustices of the previous coups would be perpetuated, staged his own coup.

The military, which had staged 18 previous coups since the 1930's, vowed that it would return civilian rule but gave no timetable.

General Abacha seized power in November and was a crucial figure in at least two previous military coups during the past decade.

This had allowed him to help recruit rebels, avoid loyalists and engineer the previous coup.

Its leaders had been involved in the previous coup four years earlier.

Despite having supported the previous coups that lead to human rights abuses in the countryside, President Cerezo claims to have stopped the massacre himself.