No military intervention in Fiji from Pacific countries: Australian FM

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Friday that Pacific countries are not planning a military intervention in Fiji.

Australia is hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from Pacific Islands Forum countries to discuss the political crisis in Fiji, after the country's military commander Vorege Bainimarama threatened to overthrow the government unless a list of his demands are met by noon Friday.

It was later reported that the deadline has been extended to noon next Monday.

The ministers who attended the meeting in Sydney, Australia's largest city, urged the Fiji government and military to resolve their differences and come to a peaceful solution.

But Downer said the ministers did not believe military intervention was necessary.

"We are not planning a military intervention in Fiji," he told reporters.

"If the Fijian military mount a coup and overthrow the democratically elected government ... then that will obviously have very substantial implications for our links with the Fijian military," he said.

Meanwhile, the ministers also decided to set up a group comprising high-level government officials from the Pacific island nations to meet with Fiji's military and government leaders in an effort to solve the crisis.

Source: Xinhua