Thaksin goes island hopping to Fiji, Tonga
- Published: 10/07/2009 at 05:28 AM
- Online news: Local News
NUKU'ALOFA : Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra flew to the Pacific islands this week, a Tongan government official says.
"He was here on Tuesday," the Tongan official, who did not wish to be named, said yesterday, adding he understood Thaksin left on Wednesday for Fiji.
"He talked to someone at foreign affairs, who looked after him."
The official did not give any further information on the purpose of the visit.
Thaksin had been in Fiji before going to Tonga and a government spokesman confirmed he had a meeting on Monday with military ruler Voreqe Bainimarama, who overthrew the elected government in a 2006 coup.
"They sat and discussed some business proposal over dinner and that was it," government spokesman Neumi Leweni told Fiji commercial radio.
He gave no further details of the meeting, although reports in Fiji and Australia suggested Thaksin was offering hundreds of millions of dollars for investment in return for using Fiji as a base in exile.
The Australian newspaper said on Friday taht Thaksin was believed to be heading next for Port Vila in Vanuatu, where leaders from the Melanesian Spearhead Group of countries - Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji - are meeting today.
Thaksin has been living mainly in Dubai since fleeing Thailand last year before being found guilty by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division of Holders of Political Positions in relation to the Ratchadaphisek land deal. (AFP)
