7 Jul 2010

Fiji urges Australia to stop meddling in Fiji affairs

2:54 pm on 7 July 2010

Fiji's interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has called on the Australian government to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Fiji.

This follows a comment by an unnamed Australian Foreign Affairs official in the newspaper, The Australian.

Commodore Bainimarama says the article was inciting the people of Fiji to rise against his government and promoting further unrest.

He said calling Fiji government ministers derogatory words is mischievous and portrays the condescending attitude of the Australian government.

The Australian official was quoted as saying that the people may have no choice but to stand up to Bainimarama and his thugs.

Last year, Fiji expelled the Australian and New Zealand top diplomats in Suva for allegedly misinforming Canberra and Wellington about the situation in Fiji.

Last month, the interim regime passed a decree which gave Australia's News Limited three months to sell 90 percent of its shares in the Fiji Times to Fiji stakeholders or face closure.