SUVA. July 6: Fiji rebels holding deposed prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry and 26 other hostages remained holed-up inside parliament on Thursday despite a military order to leave the compound within 48 hours, reports Reuters.

A four-hour meeting between Fiji's military and rebels outside the parliamentary complex ended without bringing the crisis any closer to an end.

"There was nothing new that came out of the talks, they were strictly exploratory," rebel spokesman .Joe Nata said.

Nata said the talks were aimed at re-establishing contact after Tuesday's shootout with the military, tn which three civilians and two armed rebels were wounded.

The shootings prompted the army to declare a no-go zone around the complex from midnight Wednesday (1200 GMT Wednesday) and give the rebels and their 200-odd supporters 48 hours to leave the parliament or face prosecution once the crisis is over.

The rebels stormed parliament on May 19 in the name of indigenous rights, seizing Chaudhry, the country's first ethnic iridian prime minister, and his multi-racial cabinet.

The military has ruled out using force to end the crisis but under the no-go zone, the military has the power to commandeer land and buildings and restrict water, communications and power to the parliamentary compound.

Most of the homes surrounding Suva's parliament had been evacuated today but cars and trucks were being waved through military checkpoints around parliament, and people were free to move in and out of the complex.

The military does not plan to fully enforce the exclusion zone until tomorrow night.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer welcomed the announcement of the exclusion zone and called on rebel leader George Speight to release the hostages.