FIJI: Regime denies Fiji Times extension to find local buyer

SUVA: Fiji's interim government has refused a request by the country's oldest daily newspaper, the Fiji Times, for a deadline to sell the paper to be extended.

The Times' owners, News Limited, had sought an extension after the cut-off date for expressions of interest ended last week.

But Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum has refused the request, saying Fiji's media decree stipulates that all media companies established in Fiji must be 90 percent locally owned.

Khaiyum says the Fiji Times will be closed if it can't comply with the law. - Radio Australia/Pacific Media Watch