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Fiji's self-appointed prime minister has taunted New Zealand and Australia, saying he will definitely attend a forum of regional leaders in October.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer recently said Fiji's leader Frank Bainimarama, who seized office in a military coup in December last year, would not be welcome at the meeting of 16 Pacific leaders.
The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting is due to be held in Tonga on October 16-17.
Bainimarama today hit back.
"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 (NZ 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," he said.
Prime Minister Helen Clark has previously said Bainimarama would be "treated something like a leper" if he attended the conference.
It is uncertain who will attend the conference from Australia, with the possibility a federal election campaign will be under way at the time of the meeting.
A spokeswoman for Prime Minister John Howard was unable to confirm whether he would attend.
"I would think that he wouldn't go if it were in the middle of an election campaign," she said.
A spokesman for Tonga's government said a decision on whether Bainimarama would be allowed into their country would be made within the next two weeks.
The Solomon Islands government said today it was "refusing to acknowledge" Mr Downer's comments.
Foreign Affairs Minister Patterson Oti said he had not received any formal notification of a "trend or general feeling" among Forum members that Bainimarama would not be welcome.
Mr Oti said he wanted to personally check the authenticity of Mr Downer's statement.
- AAP
