Cabinet ponders Fiji options

By VERNON SMALL

The scale of New Zealand's sanctions against Fiji will become clear when a new Government is announced in Suva in the next few days, says Foreign Minister Phil Goff.

He will present options to the cabinet today on action against Fiji, where the multiracial constitution has been suspended since the May 19 coup.

Last night, Prime Minister Helen Clark spoke to her deposed Fiji counterpart, Mahendra Chaudhry, who was held in captivity for 56 days by rebel leader George Speight and his men.

She said Mr Chaudhry told her that people did not feel safe and the damage to the economy was considerable. Looting was continuing.

Discussions of sanctions come as fears continue of instability in Fiji, which has yet to name a government following the release of hostages last week. Mr Goff said the level and type of sanctions were likely to be dictated by the make-up of the new regime.

"If optimistically there was a regime that said: 'We want to take Fiji back to a constitutional democracy, we will uphold the rights of Indo-Fijians but we also want to be protective of the indigenous people', then you could move into an encouraging and supporting role.'"

But if the ultra-nationalists with George Speight as Prime Minister took control, "you would simply say there is no chance of moving anywhere and we don't want to deal with this man and you would probably adopt the most powerful sanctions you were prepared to adopt short of taking action that would be aimed at destroying the Fijian economy."

More Fiji coup coverage

Main players in the Fiji coup

The hostages

Under seige: map of the Parliament complex

Fiji facts and figures

Images of the coup - a daily record