WELLINGTON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Soldiers in Suva have surrounded Monday building of Fiji's police tactical response unit as tension rises in the capital, local television reported.

    The television report said police had been locked out of their premises but no shots were fired.

    But Acting Fiji Police Commissioner Moses Driver later denied the police unit had been taken over.

    Tensions in Fiji have been high since Fiji's military chief, Commander Vorege Bainimarama threatened a month ago to remove Prime Minister Qarase from office.

    Fiji, a South Pacific nation of about 900,000 people, consists of 800-plus volcanic and coral islands. Racial and political tensions since 1987, including three soups, have been an intermittent source of instability of the country.