NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) -
Firefighters on Friday found six charred bodies in the scorched rubble of a building set ablaze a day earlier by a rampaging mob, as authorities restricted movement in the aftermath of violence in the South Pacific kingdom.
The six dead were believed to be looters or rioters, as staff of the power company were all accounted for after the building was torched on Thursday, said Tonga's Lord Chamberlain, Hon. Fielakepa, who acts as spokesman for the king and like many Tongan nobles uses just one name.
The violence erupted after crowds gathered in the capital, demanding that parliament pass democratic reforms before it ended its annual session Thursday. A crowd of young people set fires, overturned cars and looted shops.
Prime Minister Fred Sevele declared most of the city a "proclaimed area" under the country's Public Order Preservation Act, "into which movement is severely restricted," government spokesman Lopeti Senituli said. An emergency meeting of the Cabinet was to be held later Friday.
"The priority is to secure peace so that people can feel secure in their own homes and neighborhoods," Senituli said. "Most of the fires have died down but the damage has been widespread and major."
The young Tongans, apparently angry at the lack of political reform in this semifeudal society, targeted several businesses formerly connected with King Saiosi Tupou V and to Prime Minister Fred Sevele. But many other businesses were damaged as well. Witnesses estimated more than half the city's shopping district had been razed by the fires.
As troops filled the streets, Tonga's monarch was believed to be at a royal villa outside the capital.
Pro-democracy lawmaker 'Akalisi Pohiva Friday blamed the riot on the government's delay of promised political reforms.
"The government made a big mistake" by delaying approval of expanded democratic elections in 2008 until the rioting began, Pohiva told New Zealand's National Radio. "They shouldn't have waited until the country fell into this chaotic situation."
He said the prime minister waited until the end of the legislative session to sign a measure authorizing elections that will give democratically-elected representatives a majority in parliament.
Earlier Thursday, the government had proposed referring the reform proposals to a subcommittee for consideration next year.
The new elections will increase the number of democratically-elected representatives in the 32-seat parliament from nine to 21, Pohiva said. The rest are appointed by the King.
Last month, a government committee recommended all lawmakers in Tonga be elected.
Officials in Australia and New Zealand, who dispatched a peacekeeping force in the Solomon Islands after rioting there earlier this year, condemned the unrest.
Australian authorities said they would consider sending security forces to the Tonga if the government requested it. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he spoke to Sevele by telephone earlier Thursday and would be in touch again Friday.
"Whether we would need to provide additional security, we are not sure yet at this stage," said Downer, who is attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Hanoi, Vietnam.
New Zealand's acting prime minister, Michael Cullen, said Friday his country would "seriously consider" any Tongan requests for aid.
Reform supporters complained that Sevele, who is appointed by the king, and the rest of the nation's political establishment had supported delaying the reforms.
The recommendation was one of the most significant steps toward reform of Tonga's political system since the September death of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, who was in power for more than 40 years.
Tonga, located halfway between Australia and Tahiti, has a population of around 108,000 and an economy dependent on pumpkin and vanilla exports, fishing, foreign aid and remittances from Tongans abroad.
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