15 Mar 2007

Forum ministers to discuss Fiji at Vanuatu meeting

4:03 pm on 15 March 2007

The report of the Forum Eminent Persons Group on the political situation in Fiji after the December military takeover will top the agenda of the Forum foreign ministers' meeting in Vanuatu tomorrow.

The report has called on Fiji's interim prime minister, Commodore Bainimarama, to resign and hand over power to a civilian and for elections to be held with 18 months to two years rather than the interim administration's 2010 timeline.

Fiji will be represented at the meeting by the interim minister for foreign affairs, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, and the interim attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khayum.

Mr Sayed-Khayum has told the Fijilive news website that the Fiji delegation will attend the meeting with an open mind aimed at putting Fiji's side of the story regarding the Eminent Persons report.

He says they will discuss the report in a spirit of cooperation with the ministers and he is optimistic of the outcome.

Fijilive says growing dissention against Australia's stance on regional issues, particularly from the prime ministers of PNG and Solomons Islands and the Fiji interim administration, is also expected to be discussed.