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SUVA, Fiji - Senior South Pacific government ministers held inconclusive talks with Fiji's coup leader Tuesday on progress toward returning the island country to democracy.
The talks, between coup chief Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and ministers from Australia, New Zealand and Tonga, were "worthwhile" but still needed evaluation, said Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
It was the first high-level meeting involving Bainimarama since the 2006 coup, Mr Peters said.
The contact group remained tight-lipped over whether the Fijian military regime had made any fresh pledge to return the volatile South Pacific nation to democracy.
The meeting followed rising concern among countries in the region and foreign aid donors that Cdre Bainimarama will renege on promises to return Fiji to democracy by March next year.
"It was very worthwhile and I think all the ministers would think that as well," Mr Peters said, but they would have to "evaluate what was said here and think about it" before they could confirm whether any progress had been made.
Mr Peters, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, Pacific Islands Forum chairman and Tongan Prime Minister Fred Sevele were included in the party.
There was no immediate comment from Cdre Bainimarama or his Foreign Minister, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.
Later Tuesday the group was to meet with Fiji's Electoral Commission and Fiji's National Council for a Better Fiji - a body set up by Cdre Bainimarama to assist the country's future political and social development.
Before the talks, Mr Smith said the contact group's purpose was to assess the willingness and commitment of the interim Fiji government to hold an election by next March.
"I have said publicly ... that I've been very sceptical about the political will (to hold elections) from what the interim prime minister, Commodore Bainimarama, has been saying in recent times," Mr Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio Tuesday.
Travel sanctions against the regime would continue, he said, but would be addressed "if a fundamental starting point is arrived at, which is the holding of an election".
Australia, New Zealand, the US and European Union have a range of travel and aid sanctions in place against Cdre Bainimarama and his military government.
- AP
