PM nervous at Fiji coup noises ahead of summit

Prime Minister Helen Clark has asked for security on her trip to Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum to be reviewed following renewed military coup threats, saying the jury is out on whether they are serious.

Her advice was not to pull out of the two-day leader's summit in Nadi next week as a result, but she said yesterday she was keeping a day-to-day watch on events.

"I've asked for a look at the security around myself and the New Zealand delegation. I am concerned about the atmosphere in Fiji. I really don't want to be the target of it or caught up in it in any way."

The Fiji Times reported this week that the military had given the Fijian Government a three-week ultimatum to dump legislation its chief, Commodore Voreque Bainimarama opposes.

Commodore Bainimarama left for the Middle East several days ago, but reiterated in the Fiji Times yesterday that the Government must change course or resign.

Helen Clark said as there was no doubt the threats had been made "the question then is, is there a serious intent and /or capability to carry them through? Would the Fiji Military Forces as a whole be behind such threats? I think the jury is out on all those issues."

Despite her concerns, Commodore Bainimarama - who has regularly made similar challenges - is not due home until November 12 and most observers believe any significant military action in his absence is unlikely.

The NZ Foreign Affairs Ministry also appears unfazed, as it has not issued any tourist travel warnings.

But the timing of the destabilising publicity is unfortunate for Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, gearing up to chair what was already shaping up to be a contentious forum.

Mr Qarase yesterday convened the National Security Council to discuss the commander's "recent outbursts", afterwards issuing his first statement on the issue this week.

He assured Fijians there was "no threat to order and security".

The council was briefed by the Acting Commander of the military, Esala Teleni, and the Acting Police Commissioner, Mr Qarase said.

The Government would "continue to closely co-ordinate the security forces in monitoring the situation".

"I urge all citizens to remain calm and carry on with their daily lives in the normal way. They should not be misled by rumours and hearsay."

Helen Clark, meanwhile, moved to defend the Australian Government whose relationships with both Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands is severely strained, as the result of a stance labelled "hairy-chested" by the Australian Opposition and unduly harsh by some Pacific states.

Australian has suspended ministerial contact with PNG, after a failed attempt to extradite suspended Solomon Islands Attorney-General Julian Moti from PNG.

Moti has an Australian passport and is wanted on alleged sex offences. He was spirited out of the country to the Solomons on a PNG defence plane. Solomons Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare has since threatened the future of the Australian-led regional assistance mission (Ramsi) in his country.

Helen Clark said: "I can totally understand the Australian concerns. They had an arrest warrant out for a man whose departure from PNG was facilitated and I think in their position we'd be very aggrieved."

She did not see New Zealand playing a mediating role at the forum. "I don't want to use that term, I think New Zealand goes with good intentions to try and help the forum chair ... with some very, very difficult issues. So if anything, we go as a friend of the chair but determined to state a strong point of view about the importance of the regional mission in the Solomons and the importance of everyone hanging in behind it."

Pacific leaders were well aware Australia had carried the bulk of the Ramsi costs and supplied most of the personnel.