Australia, NZ to take part in Fiji ministerial meetings
Updated
The chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum has confirmed Australia and New Zealand will be allowed to take part in ministerial meetings in Fiji next week.
The Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Dr Fred Sevele, says Fiji's interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama is aware the Australian and New Zealand foreign ministers will be in Fiji next week to take part in the Ministerial Contact Group meeting on Fiji's progress towards elections.
"He was fully aware that Australia and New Zealand were part of the group, and there was no question about their attending," he said.
Our Pacific correspondent, Campbell Cooney, reports since the 2006 coup Australia and New Zealand have put travel bans on members of Fiji's military and interim government.
The meeting comes three weeks after Fiji suspended its involvement with the Pacific Forum joint working group, saying it was being dominated by Australia and New Zealand.
Last week, Australia announced it was allowing Fiji to appoint an acting High Commissioner in Canberra and Consul General in Sydney.
Both positions have been vacant since the coup.
