Australia considers further Fiji sanctions

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1124576 [headline] => Australia considers further Fiji sanctions [abstract] => Fiji has been warned it risks further isolation after ordering the top diplomats from Australia and NZ out of the country within 24 hours. [keywords] => Fiji, Australia, expulsion [content] =>

Fiji has been warned it risks further isolation from the global community after ordering the top diplomats from Australia and New Zealand out of the country within 24 hours.

Both Australia and New Zealand haven't ruled out retaliating and are considering further sanctions against Fiji, in what threatens to deepen ongoing tensions in the Pacific.

Self-appointed Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, the military leader who has ruled Fiji since a December 2006 coup, has given both governments a day to recall their envoys, in a spat over travel visas.

He's accused the two countries of sabotaging nation-building efforts by refusing to grant visas to Fiji judges - or what he calls "a consolidated effort to attack Fiji's independent judiciary".

One High Court judge was initially denied a visa to New Zealand, while Australia vetoed travel for several Sri Lankan judges bound for the Fijian judiciary.

Both countries have defended travel restrictions for those connected to the Fiji regime.

But to punish members of the Fiji judiciary was shameful, and sought to undermine the system, Commodore Bainimarama said.

He sent word to the Australian and New Zealand governments on Tuesday to have their envoys recalled from Fiji within 24 hours, while Fiji's high commissioner in Australia has been recalled, effective immediately.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the move to expel High Commissioner James Batley was deeply concerning, and warned the government was carefully considering its response.

He, along with New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully, expect to formally announce their plans once receiving the official notice from Fiji on the expulsions early on Wednesday (Australian time).

"Australia will give careful consideration to the question of possible further measures against the Fiji regime," the government said. But it would be a proportionate response, Mr Smith told ABC Television on Tuesday night, while ruling out any tit-for-tat exchanges.

It is the first time Australia's top diplomat has been shown the door in Fiji, although it is the fourth time New Zealand's top-ranking official has been expelled.

"We're gravely concerned (about) Fiji's continual withdrawal from the international community," Mr Smith said.

"Cdre Bainimarama has chosen to go down this path - it's most regrettable - and in a matter of minutes and hours, rather than hours and days, I will announce what Australia's response to this action is."

Mr Smith said it was a substantial setback in the way forward for Fiji, which lost its democratically elected government in 2006 following a bloodless coup led by Cdre Bainimarama. 

[start_date] => 04 November 2009 | 07:52:19 AM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AAP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [id] => 1124111 [label] => Fiji expels Australian, NZ envoys [display_order] => 1 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1111101 [label] => PNG urges Australia, NZ to support Fiji [display_order] => 2 [type] => Article ) [2] => Array ( [id] => 1109141 [label] => 'Australia, keep out of Fiji's business' [display_order] => 3 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1124111 [headline] => Fiji expels Australian, NZ envoys [abstract] => Fiji has reportedly given Australian and New Zealand envoys 24 hours to leave the Pacific country, accusing them of interference in its internal affairs. [content] =>

Fiji has told Australia's and New Zealand's envoys to leave the Pacific country within 24 hours because of interference in its internal affairs, news reports say.

Self-appointed leader Voreque Bainimarama announced that the high commissioners of Australia and New Zealand would be given one day to leave, the Fiji Times reported.

It also said Bainimarama had withdrawn Fiji's envoys in Australia and New Zealand.

He made the announcement in Suva on Tuesday evening, saying it was the result of the impact of the Australian and New Zealand governments' positions on Fiji.

The announcement was made after a cabinet meeting and followed consultation with Vice President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, the Fiji Times said.

Fiji was plunged into crisis in April after the president reappointed Bainimarama as prime minister, less than two days after the High Court ruled the military leader's 2006 coup and subsequent government was illegal.

Fiji's president fired the judges who a day earlier had declared the military government illegal, deepening the troubled South Pacific country's political turmoil.

President Ratu Josefa Iloilo announced in a nationally broadcast radio address that he had abolished the constitution, assumed all governing power and revoked all judicial appointments.

The move came one day after the country's second-highest court ruled that armed forces chief Bainimarama's government that took power after a 2006 coup was illegal, effectively creating a power vacuum.

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