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| Australia Cuts Support to Fiji's Involvement in RAMSI |
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The Australian government will next Monday suspend all funding for Fiji's military involvement in the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in the wake of the military coup in Fiji earlier this month, one of Australia's leading newspapers reported Thursday. The move is believed to have deepening Fiji's international isolation and means Fiji's military will not be able to take the lead role in RAMSI from next March, as was scheduled under the rotation system for the five nations that contribute troops, according to The Australian newspaper. The extra measure by the Australian government followed existing measures taken in response to the overthrow early this month of the democratically elected government of Laisenia Qarase by military chief Frank Bainimarama. Canberra has already suspended its bilateral defense cooperation program with Fiji and has also suspended aid to parts of Fiji's public sector and its police and prisons. A spokeswoman for Australian Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Australia will suspend funding for Fiji's military participation in RAMSI from December 31. "As part of the response to the coup in Fiji we have withdrawn support for the Fijian military component of RAMSI," she was quoted by the newspaper as saying. RAMSI was set up in 2003 to help Solomon Islands' government restore law and order, strengthen government institutions, reduce corruption and reinvigorate the economy. (Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)
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