An eight-member Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group met in London early yesterday and resolved to partly suspend Fiji in response to last month's coup, demanding that it return to democracy.
The group expressed unanimous condemnation of the seizure of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and the subsequent imposition of martial law and the abrogation of the multiracial constitution.
In effect, Fiji will be banned from any Commonwealth meetings and will be denied any new technical aid.
The message is to be conveyed by a ministerial delegation, including New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff and his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, due to arrive in Suva tomorrow.
They will meet members of the Fijian military, who assumed control of the country last week, but will not visit the parliamentary complex under the control of rebel leader George Speight.
Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini said last night that Fijian authorities were disappointed by the Commonwealth reaction and asked for support to help the country through the crisis. The military would reserve any official response until after the delegation's visit.
Mr Goff said he hoped to meet members of the indigenous-Fijian and Fiji-Indian communities as well as the military Government.
He had no intention of legitimising Speight at all by visiting him, however.
"I regard Mr Speight as a person who has acted unlawfully, criminally and in a terrorist way," said Mr Goff. "It would not be acceptable to meet Speight or give him any legitimacy or allow him to claim the respect of the international community."
Speight, who did not know who Mr Downer was, reacted angrily when told neither of the Foreign Ministers would visit him.
"What is he [Mr Downer] doing in my country then? Is he going to talk to Europeans? If he is not going to come here and get the mood of the very people who are upset about what is going on in this country, I suggest to Mr Downer he stay in Australia."
Speight and his supporters stormed Parliament on May 19 and took Government MPs hostage to press for the expansion of power for indigenous Fijians.
Yesterday, soldiers fired warning shots at four rebels who were breaking into nearby houses.
A military spokesman confirmed that an Army patrol fired three warning shots as it pursued the rebels. Guns were then fired from within the parliamentary compound, although it is believed they were pointed into the air.
Speight accused the Army of endangering unarmed civilians and threatened a confrontation if such an incident were repeated. "If they continue with that type of approach, it's going to attract a not-too-pleasant backlash."
George Speight talks to IRN's Barry Soper
(10 min).
