UN heads to Fiji

BRUSSELS: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending a fact-finding mission to Fiji. The mission coincides with an European Union announcement on Friday, following talks in Brussels with a Fijian delegation, that its military-led government will hold elections by March 2009.

But Fiji's military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama immediately said the country would only "review" its plans to hold elections in early 2010.

The UN mission will include political and electoral experts as well as representatives from the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Development Programme.