CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s prime minister has sidestepped a diplomatic dispute over a suspected extremist’s nationality and brushed off criticism that he is burdening Pacific neighbours with unsustainable debt as he begins a two-day visit to Fiji.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is visiting Fiji and Vanuatu this week as both Australia and China strive to increase their influence among South Pacific island nations.
Morrison said his Fijian counterpart, Frank Bainimarama, had not raised with him on Thursday the status of Neil Prakash, an Australian-born alleged extremist whom Australia stripped of citizenship on the basis that he was a Fijian dual national through his Fijian-born father. Fiji denies that 27-year-old Prakash, who is currently being held in a Turkish prison on terrorism charges, is Fijian.
The Associated Press
