Fiji military postpone arrival of delegation

By EUGENE BINGHAM in Suva

Fiji's military rulers have snubbed a Commonwealth delegation, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Phil Goff, telling it not to bother coming to the troubled nation until next week.

Army chiefs and senior leaders are disappointed the Commonwealth has punished Fiji over the continuing political crisis and have declined to meet the delegation until late next week at the earliest.

Mr Goff and his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, together with representatives of Botswana and Malaysia, were supposed to arrive in Suva to express the Commonwealth's condemnation of events in Fiji since the May 19 coup and the subsequent military takeover.

Mr Goff confirmed last night the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Don McKinnon, had advised him the trip was off.

Asked if it was a snub by the Fijians, Mr Goff said: "I could not rule out that the military are saying, 'We're sending you a message back.'

"But I haven't had anything to do with the organisation. That is purely in the hands of the Secretary-General. I'm just an invitee."

They wanted to set Fiji a deadline for a return to democracy and officially inform the Fijians of the Commonwealth's decision to suspend it from the organisation's council and halt future technical assistance.

But Fiji's disappointment over the decision has prompted the head of Fiji's interim military Government, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, to ask for time to contemplate the decision.

"We need to understand our position before we sit and talk with them," a military spokesman, Captain Howard Politini, told the Herald.

"They need to get themselves ready and we need to prepare ourselves and understand the implications ... before we meet."

The Commonwealth's reaction to the coup caused widespread disappointment in Fiji, with many saying the organisation had acted too soon.

Vice-president Ratu Josefa Iloilo broke down in tears at the news, pleading for support instead of sanctions to help Fiji resolve the crisis and free the parliamentary hostages held at gunpoint by rebel leader George Speight.

"We think that the [Commonwealth] doesn't understand the situation as yet and responded to what has been in the media and the newspapers. They need to come and understand the reality of it," said Captain Politini.

"We need to give them time to try and investigate the real issues at hand, which is difficult to do from a distance, so they will be better informed."

Mr McKinnon was due to issue a response late last night.

George Speight talks to IRN's Barry Soper

(10 min).