Wellington - Fiji's Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the military coup that ousted an elected government in December 2006 was illegal, according to reports from the capital, Suva.

The court ruled that military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama's government was unlawfully appointed and the president should appoint an independent caretaker prime minister to dissolve Parliament and call a general election.

Wellington  - Fiji's army chief has denied the military was responsible for a fire bomb attack on the home of the editor of a newspaper he wants shut down, saying soldiers would do the job properly, according to a report from the capital Suva on Thursday.

Wellington  - Fiji military strongman Commodore Frank Bainimarama is delivering his country "a passport to poverty" with his refusal to hold democratic elections, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday.

"He needs to recognize that if he wants Fiji to progress and to be taken seriously by both the (British) Commonwealth and the Pacific Forum leaders he needs to demonstrate that he has got a willingness for democracy to be restored," Key told reporters at his weekly news conference.

Wellington  - Fiji's military strongman, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, defied Thursday an ultimatum from the British Commonwealth to hold elections this year and challenged the 53-member organization to suspend his country's membership immediately.

A group of ministers from Commonwealth countries meeting in London on Wednesday said Fiji would be suspended in September if Bainimarama, who has ruled the South Pacific nation since seizing power in a bloodless coup in December 2006, did not restore democracy.

Wellington, Feb 18 : Commodore Esala Teleni, the Police Commissioner of Fiji, has told Fijian-Indian police officers to get out of the force if they can't be loyal to him.

One of Fiji''s top coup plotters, Police Commissioner Esala Teleni, has launched an attack on Indians in his force, calling them backstabbers and liars.

And he says any of them who oppose his Christian mission will be booted out of the force, Stuff. co. nz reported.

Sydney  - Pacific Forum countries will meet next month to decide whether to suspend Fiji's military rulers from their 16-member regional forum, the Papua New Guinea government announced in Port Moresby on Friday.

The meeting, which was initially scheduled for Tuesday, will be held February 10, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said in a statement.

Fiji's leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who ousted the elected government in a bloodless coup two years ago, told Somare he couldn't attend next week because he was required in Suva to oversee flood-relief efforts.