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Prime Minister Helen Clark says she will attend the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga even if Fiji's self-appointed Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama turns up.
The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting is due to be held in Tonga on October 16-17.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said Fiji's leader, who seized office in a military coup in December last year, would not be welcome at the meeting of 16 Pacific leaders.
Helen Clark has previously said Commodore Bainimarama would be "treated something like a leper" if he attended the conference.
Commodore Bainimarama hit back last week, saying he would be going.
"I, as the Prime Minister of this interim Government, will attend the conference in Tonga. No one else will go. It will be me," he told the Fiji Village website.
"If they do not want to welcome me I can understand that. I am not going to expect open arms hugging and kisses on the cheeks by Alexander Downer and [New Zealand Foreign Minister] Winston Peters when I arrive in Tonga.
"But I will just say that if they do not want to see me they don't have to be in Tonga. They can remain in New Zealand and Australia, because I will be in Tonga."
Helen Clark said she understood the December coup leader had made "certain" statements.
"Whether or not he ends up there ... who knows? There's a few weeks to go before that forum occurs," she said.
Even if Commodore Bainimarama did go, Helen Clark said she would attend the meeting.
"I will be there. I have invested a lot of time and effort over close to eight years in the Pacific Island Forum and there's a lot of business to do," she said.
Asked how she would feel about possibly having to talk to the military strongman, she replied: "I think the answer to that is pretty self-evident".
Tonga has said it welcomes the attendance of all Pacific Forum leaders.
- NZPA
