Fiji, New Zealand expel diplomats

New Zealand's foreign minister said yesterday that his country and Fiji's military regime have expelled each other's top diplomats in a rapidly deepening rift.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully said New Zealand's acting High Commissioner in Fiji, Caroline McDonald, was informed yesterday that she had a week to leave the South Pacific country.

McCully said New Zealand would retaliate by ejecting Fiji's High Commissioner to New Zealand, Ponsami Chetty.