-
Kevin Rudd - Source: Reuters -
Related
Australia has expelled Fiji's top diplomat in Canberra in
retaliation for a similar move by the Pacific island's military
regime.
Fiji's acting high commissioner, Kamlesh Kumar Arya, has been
ordered to return to Suva, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith
announced.
Fiji on Tuesday ordered the top diplomats from Australia and New
Zealand out of the Pacific nation within 24 hours.
Self-appointed Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, the military
leader who has ruled Fiji since the December 2006 coup, gave both
governments a day to recall their envoys over a spat over travel
visas.
He accused Australia and New Zealand of sabotaging nation-building
efforts by refusing to grant visas to Fijian judges.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia
would continue to take a hard-line stance against the military
regime.
"We're not about to simply allow a coup culture to spread," he told
ABC Radio, adding that Australia wanted stability in the South
Pacific region.
Australia would not allow what has happened in Fiji to become some
sort of norm for the Pacific at large.
"This man, Bainimarama, has undertaken a military coup, suspended
the constitution, refused to hold fresh elections and sacked the
judiciary and appointed his."
