SUVA (Reuters) - Fiji's indigenous caretaker prime minister Laisenia Qarase won the most seats in the country's post-coup elections on Friday, but fell short of an outright majority to govern the racially split nation.(Read photo caption below)

Qarase, who has said he is ready to form a new coalition government and is holding talks with independents and minor parties including that of coup leader George Speight, won 31 seats in the 71-seat parliament.
Deposed ethnic Indian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who was toppled by Speight in the name of indigenous rights in 2000, won 27 seats.
In a surprise result, Speight's extreme nationalist Conservative Alliance won six seats, leaving it a possible partner in Fiji's new coalition government.
But Qarase has won enough seats to form a coalition without relying on Speight's party, which has demanded his release from prison as a condition of its support.
Fiji was calm on Friday as the South Pacific nation's protracted election and vote count came to an end.
News of the end of the election sparked spontaneous celebrations by Qarase and supporters in the Suva counting room. Qarase, dressed in traditional sulu with shirt and tie, danced, while others drank the mild intoxicant kava, sang and cried.
``I am confident he will look after us as Indians, as he is a fatherly figure to all of Fiji,'' said Dal Mati, an Indian who knelt before Qarase with her two young daughters and kissed his hand while weeping.
``God gave us this leader,'' Mati said.
Qarase, a former bureaucrat, was appointed caretaker prime minister by the military after Speight's coup. Speight and his gunmen stormed parliament on May 19, 2000, taking Chaudhry and most of his multi-racial cabinet hostage for 56 days.
But whether Qarase can cobble together a coalition to rule Fiji for the next five years remains unclear.
In a bizarre twist Chaudhry, who has claimed widespread vote rigging, said on Friday he would meet coup leader Speight's party to discuss a possible union.
``They have asked to see me and I will see them and see what they want,'' Chaudhry told Reuters.
``We will see if we can do business with them or not.''
A U.N. observer mission said on Monday the vote had been conducted ``in a transparent manner.''
SPEIGHT'S FATE
It is unclear whether Speight will take his seat in parliament. Under the constitution, he must forfeit his seat if he is unable to attend parliament because he is in jail.
Analysts regard a union between Chaudhry and Speight as unlikely because Speight and his ultra-nationalists are bitterly opposed to ethnic Indian rule.
Fiji has been rocked by three racially inspired coups and a military mutiny since 1987, fueled by indigenous Fijian fears the country's minority ethnic Indians, who dominate the sugar- and tourism-based economy, would also dominate politically.
Both Qarase and Chaudhry have said they would not back the release of Speight, who is due to stand trial early in 2002.
Speight claims he was given immunity by the military as part of a deal to release Chaudhry. The military say he broke the terms of that immunity deal by not returning all the weapons his men had seized.
``If he is able to be set free following a process of law, good luck to him,'' Chaudhry said.
Ethnic Indians, descendants of indentured laborers brought to work the sugarcane farms at the turn of the century, make up about 44 percent of the 800,000 population.
Fiji's electorate is divided along racial lines, with 23 seats set aside for indigenous Fijians, 19 for ethnic Indians, one for Rotuman Islanders, three others and 25 seats open to all
PHOTO CAPTION:
Caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase ponders a question during a news conference in Suva September 6, 2001. Qarase said under Fiji law the president could declare amnesty for ultra-nationalist George Speight who led an armed siege on parliament house last year. (Will Burgess/Reuters)