The king, the coup and the coconut tree defence

[emad]

The king, the coup and the coconut tree defence

Kim Willsher in Paris
Monday September 26, 2005
The Guardian


As attempted coups d'etat go, it was a peculiar affair that started with a drink-driving conviction and culminated with a mobilisation of coconut trees in defence of an octogenarian king.

At stake is the throne of Wallis island, a tiny South Pacific outcrop with a population of 10,000 and a stone house for a royal palace. But the modest nature of 87-year-old King Tomasi Kulimoetoke's seat of power has not prevented a struggle for ascendancy in the tiny kingdom.

Trouble in the French territory, north of Fiji, started in January when the king's grandson was sentenced to 18 months in jail for killing a pedestrian in a drink-driving incident. He fled to the palace, from where the king threatened to expel French officials who tried to make an arrest, insisting tribal justice should take precedence over French law. The grandson surrendered after four months but the incident outraged a rival clan who want the French to stay. They set up their own "government" and said they would crown a new king yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1578137,00.html

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. can we send them Bush? He'd love to be king.

then again, he probably thinks he is.

[leveymg]

2. Sounds to me like a parable for another coup set off by a drunk son.

Why is it that the only alternative offered to incompetent dictatorship is military coup?

Looking at the latest round of pictures taken in the NORCOM bunker, doesn't W look like a prisoner? Are those healthy-looking guys behind him really his loyal officers or are they his guards?

Has there already been a quiet coup? See, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/9/11356/61794