The New Zealand government hosted a meeting Wednesday of Fiji's Prime Minister and the commander of the country's military forces.

The meeting was organised by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Foreign Minister Winston Peters as a first step towards easing tensions between the two men and potentially as a prelude to a resolution of the months-long dispute between the government and the military, which has engulfed the region and led to the likelihood of a military coup.

The two men met at New Zealand's Government House in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, for about two hours. The meeting, which was delayed by about forty minutes due to the late arrival of the army chief, finished at 12:40pm after which both men were tight-lipped. Army Commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama left the meeting for the airport where he was to board a flight to Suva, the Fijian capital.

Bainimarama, who has threatened to overthrow the Fiji government, was telephoned by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and visited by Peters on Tuesday. He has been in Wellington for the past week visiting family.

Annan also telephoned Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. The Secretary-General told the prime minister, and the army commander, the United Nations would not accept, nor recognise, a military takeover of the Pacific island nation. He also said Fijian military personnel engaged in UN peacekeeping missions abroad would be returned to their country, in the event of a coup.

Later Tuesday Qarase accepted an invitation by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to fly to Wellington for a meeting with Bainimarama. A New Zealand Air Force plane was sent to fetch the Fijian prime minister.

Commenting before the meeting Clark said, 'Our desire has been to see if a way can be found to bring people together to at least talk, to see if there is some way through these issues which doesn't involve a breach in Fiji's constitution and a change of Government by force.

'The first step is to get people engaged. Hopefully, having engaged, they can engage further.'

Comments by Commodore Bainimarama after the announcement of the meeting however were less encouraging. 'The meeting is going to be the shortest meeting he's ever attended in his life,' he said.

'It's very simple, he comes with a yes or no to our demands.'

'Let's not get to debate about these issues. We've been debating about these issues for the last six years. He is going to waste his time debating these issues with me.'

On the weekend 3,000 members of the army's Territorial Forces were called in to camp. Another 1,000 reservists have been called up.

Late Tuesday it was believed two high ranking Fiji Federal Police officers had been sent to New Zealand to interview Bainimarama, and press reports indicate a request has been made to Interpol to arrest him on sedition charges. Relations between the army and police are at an explosive point. Fijian Police Commissioner, Australian Andrew Hughes, is now under the protection of a police security detail in an unknown location in Fiji.

Meantime British and Australian High Commissioners in Fiji, and the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday visited the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the capital Suva, and met with acting commander Captain Esala Teleni and Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti, in a bid to defuse the crisis.

Army spokesman Major Neumi Leweni afterwards said the meeting would not help the current situation and added that it was, 'inappropriate for a civilian diplomat to visit a military camp and seek to speak directly to officers.'

'This is an invasion in itself and could be termed as trying to incite,' Major Leweni said in a statement

He said the Royal Fijian Military Forces was disappointed and would not be insulted by such visits.

Fiji's major industry, tourism, has been decimated by the political upheavel. Australia and New Zealand were joined by Britain on Tuesday in warning citizens not to travel to Fiji. Australia has gone one step further in encouraging Australians in Suva to leave. The current crisis if prolonged will cost 50,000 jobs in the industry, Fiji Visitors Bureau chief executive Viliame Gavoka said Tuesday. Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association CEO, Mereani Korovavala, said many hotels have no reservations until about April next year. She said tourists would not risk coming to a country riddled with political instability.

Later this week foreign ministers from the Pacific Islands Forum, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and thirteen other Pacific island nations, will meet under the Biketawa Declaration which was proclaimed in 2000 as a mechanism for the forum to intervene in member countries during periods of unrest. Fijian Prime Minister Qarase iniated the call for intervention last week.

Non-government organisations in Fiji however have warned against regional intervention, saying it would threaten the country's sovereignty and the rule of law.

A coalition of Fiji NGOs called Citizens for Peace has called on decision makers to work with national processes and mediation 'instead of encouraging regional forces to play a part'.

'We need to solve our problems using lawful processes and democratic institutions such as the courts, and civil society. This is the essence of the rule of law,' CCP member and head of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement, Virisila Buadromo, told The Fiji Times.

'This situation calls for skilled mediators, with intimate knowledge of the law and the local context, who can negotiate with all parties and bring this situation to a peaceful close.'