Fiji expels top New Zealand diplomat

WELLINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) New Zealand today said its top diplomat had been expelled by the Fijian government led by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, the South Pacific island nation's military chief who staged a bloodless coup in 2006.

''The New Zealand Government deplores this action,'' Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.

The Fijian embassy in Wellington said no one was available to comment on the expulsion, and the Fijian government in Suva was also unavailable for comment.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said the reason given was that the Fijian government did not like the High Commissioner Mike Green's criticisms on her government's behalf.

''The message that has been sent is this is completely unacceptable. This is not proper behaviour,'' Clark told reporters in Sydney, Australia.

''The New Zealand high commissioner is one of our most senior diplomats...(and) he has done absolutely nothing wrong. What he has done is continue to represent the views of the New Zealand government and this is clearly what the Fiji government continues to take exception to in the wake of the coup,'' she said.

New Zealand, along with its neighbour Australia and the United States, has been strongly critical of the coup which toppled the elected government of Laisenia Qarase on December 6, 2006.

Peters said the expulsion was one step below breaking relations and warned of consequences for Fiji.

''This action will be viewed very seriously not only by us, but by Fiji's other international partners including Pacific Island nations, Australia, the United States, and the European Union,'' Peters said.

FOURTH COUP Bainimarama, who remains head of the military, said his coup was necessary because Qarase's largely indigenous government was corrupt, racist and too soft on those responsible for a previous coup in 2000. This was Fiji's fourth coup in 20 years.

Deposed prime minister Qarase remains in exile on his island home, fearful of returning to the capital Suva.

New Zealand, Australia, Britain and the United States imposed economic and defence sanctions after the coup.

A former British colony, Fiji had its Commonwealth membership suspended in protest at the coup, just as it did after two similar upheavals in 1987 and again in 2000.

Bainimarama remains very sensitive to criticism of his coup and appointed government and has rejected a return to a democratically elected government until 2010.

Australia and New Zealand told the UN Human Rights Council this month they were concerned at the ''compromised state of the judiciary in Fiji'', with the removal of its chief justice by the military and reports of harassment and detention of lawyers.

New Zealand said it was concerned about human rights abuses in Fiji since the coup, citing a recent death in custody ''We see last year's December coup as not only illegal, it is also morally wrong,'' Fiji's Methodist Church president, Reverend Laisiasa Ratabacaca, told a news conference in Suva yesterday.

The Methodist Church, the biggest Christian denomination in Fiji, criticised the ''militarisation'' of government posts and called for a return to civilian rule through national elections.

''Political appointments and those based on nepotism is corruption of the worst kind,'' said the church in a submission to the government, reported the www.fijilive.com news Web site.

A state of emergency, imposed following the coup, was lifted on June 1, but the prime minister warned Fijians that anyone causing public alarm would be arrested.

Peters, New Zealand's foreign minister, said the diplomat's expulsion was strange because Wellington had acknowledged that the lifting of emergency regulations was a positive development.

Both New Zealand and Australia eased travel warnings on Fiji after the state of emergency was lifted.

Reuters SG DB1030