10 Sep 2007

EU still considering response to fresh Fiji emergency rule

1:53 pm on 10 September 2007

The European Union is still considering whether to suspend millions of dollars in aid to Fiji after saying there was no justification for the military to re-introduce emergency regulations.

But at the same time, there are worries that the whole Fiji issue will dominate the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Tonga next month.

Papua New Guinea currently holds the chair of the Forum and its Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, discussed the upcoming Forum with New Zealand's Prime Minister, Helen Clark, during the Apec summit in Sydney.

But as Brent Edwards reports from Sydney, no plan of action is yet in place:

"Certainly the impression is that there must be further discussion with other Pacific leaders as well in terms of determining how they deal with Fiji and clearly that was one of the things that would have been discussed with Sir Michael about getting hold of other leaders and contacting them by telephone or whatever to put in place plans to ensure Fiji doesn't dominate."

Helen Clark says it is still not clear who will represent Fiji at the Forum summit in Tonga