Deposed Fiji PM welcomes ruling

The deposed prime minister of Fiji, Mahendra Chaudhry, has welcomed the appeal court ruling that the current military-backed interim government is illegal.

He was speaking in India, where he's been trying to raise support for ethnic Indian Fijians affected by the coup attempt last year.

Mr Chaudhry and several of his ministers were held hostage for weeks before being forced to stand down.

He said it remained to be seen whether the interim government and the Fijian military would respect the ruling, which came from an international panel of appeal judges.

Mr Chaudhry added that he would not give in to blackmail and racism, but would not resist if there were convincing arguments that he should not resume his post as prime minister.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service