Ex-Fiji PM 'faces treason charge'

Laisenia Qarase was ousted in Fiji's fourth coup in 20 years

Fiji's former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase says he is facing possible charges of treason following a military coup that removed him from power.

Mr Qarase says he is waiting to be questioned by police over phone calls he made to the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers last year.

The military government claims that during those calls he sought foreign intervention to prevent the coup.

Mr Qarase denies this, saying he was seeking information on foreign aid.

"All I can say is that there is no real basis for their allegations and I think it is a case of the military trying to embarrass me or persecute me or whatever," he said to Australia's national broadcaster, ABC.

Anyone who initiates a foreign invasion can be charged with treason in Fiji and face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

'Bizarre turn'

Police officials have so far refused to comment on the claims.

Mr Qarase has been under effective house arrest on the island of Vanuabalavu after fleeing the capital following the December 2006 coup.

Last year both Australian Prime Minister John Howard and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said they had refused requests to send troops during the coup, as it would be akin to invading the tiny Pacific nation.

Mrs Clark described the investigation as a "bizarre turn of events".

"It's extraordinary to me that a government that has installed itself by military coup, which is a seditious and treasonable act in itself, is now accusing a democratically elected prime minister of asking for (foreign) support."

Last year's coup was Fiji's fourth in two decades.