Key to oppose Fiji reinstatement

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LATEST: New Zealand will oppose a bid to get Fiji reinstated to the Commonwealth Games if it is raised as expected during a meeting of the group's leaders this weekend.

Malaysia is understood to be planning to lobby the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Trinidad and Tobago to allow Fiji to compete in next year's games in Delhi, India.

But Mr Key said he would oppose it and he doubted there would be widespread support for the move. He was not aware of any other Pacific countries that would back it.

"New Zealand's opposed to Fiji being allowed re-entry into the Commonwealth Games. It's inconsistent with the previous stance that the Commonwealth has taken for other countries and it would send completely the wrong message to the administration."

Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth this year after coup leader Frank Bainimarama, who seized power in December 2006, refused to schedule elections.

The issue of Fiji was expected to be discussed on the periphery of Chogm, but the Malaysian bid to get it reinstated suggests it could figure more prominently.

Meanwhile, Mr Key has brushed off suggestions that the pressure is on for him to attend a crucial climate change conference in Copenhagen next month after it was confirmed French President Nicolas Sarkosy would join international heavyweights at Chogm.

Mr Sarkosy will attend the meeting to lobby for a result at the Copenhagen talks, which will aim to set out the next round of targets for cuts to greenhouse gases.

Mr Key said he did not know who had invited Mr Sarkosy to Chogm.

United Nations secretary Ban Ki-moon and head of the head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Ivo de Boer are also attending Chogm as is Danish PM Lars Rasmussen.