This followed a report from the Director of the Police Special Branch, Berenado Daveta, based on intelligence gathered from an undercover agent working among the insurrectionists.
The following day, a group including Browne, military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Great Council of Chiefs Chairman and former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Police Commissioner Colonel Isikia Savua, and Mara's son-in-law, Ratu Epeli Ganilau, a former military commander, visited Mara aboard the vessel, presented a tabua (whale's tooth) in a formal apology, and asked him to abrogate the Constitution.
Browne has emphatically denied any prior knowledge of the purpose of the visit to the warship, but told Fiji News [5] on 30 April 2001 that he understood why Mara might have suspected his loyalty.
The previous day, Mara had told Fiji Television that he had no idea why Browne had asked him to agree to be evacuated.
He is the son of Adi Losalini Browne, a sister of the late President and Tui Cakau - Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau.