Cyclone puts cloud over HK meeting

Foreign Minister Murray McCully's meeting with Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama at the Hong Kong Sevens tournament this week is in doubt, with the military leader likely to remain at home supervising the clean- up after Cyclone Tomas.

In a sign of a thawing relations between Fiji and New Zealand, Mr McCully said last month that arrangements were in place for a meeting with Fiji's interim Prime Minister at the two-day annual rugby festival.

However, a spokesman for Mr McCully said yesterday that indications - "presumed cyclone-related" - were that Commodore Bainimarama would not now attend the tournament.

Last week, the commodore said Cyclone Tomas had inflicted "overwhelming damage" on his country. The death toll stands at three.

New Zealand has committed an initial $1 million in aid and sent an Air Force Hercules to Fiji. Mr McCully said it would continue to help if Suva requested it.

Mr McCully, who is paying official visits to China and Hong Kong this month, says engagement with the Bainimarama Administration does not signal a change in New Zealand's policy or sanctions.