Fiji has ordered the envoys of New Zealand and Australia to leave the tiny Pacific island-nation within 24 hours, accusing its two biggest neighbors of interfering in Fiji's internal affairs.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama, the armed forces chief who is ruling the country, said the governments of New Zealand and Australia were "engaged in a dishonest and untruthful strategy to undermine our judiciary, our independent institutions and our economy."
The military ruler has also recalled Fiji's High Commissioner in Canberra.
In a statement telecast nationwide Tuesday, Bainimarama said he had directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs "to issue communications to the Australian and New Zealand governments that their respective heads of missions are to be recalled within 24 hours."
It was the third time in three years that New Zealand's senior diplomat in the capital, Suva, has been forced to leave.
Both Australia and New Zealand have already imposed travel bans on senior officials in the Fiji junta.
Reports say Bainimarama was provoked by the two countries' potential threat of travel ban on Sri Lankan judges, who were appointed by him to replace the local judiciary he sacked in April.
Bainimarama, who seized power in a 2006 coup, insists that elections can only be reinstated in 2014 as part of his "road-map."
In September, the Commonwealth suspended Fiji from its membership after the military government defied calls to hold elections by next year. All Commonwealth aid were cut off and Fiji was barred from participating in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Shortly afterwards, the European Union extended trade and aid sanctions against Fiji for another six months to press its military regime to address human rights abuses and restore democratic rule.
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