Fiji's military regime has detained a prominent Canberra academic as the tiny Pacific nation engages in tit-for tat diplomatic expulsions with Australia and New Zealand.
Australian National University Professor Brij Lal was arrested in Suva yesterday afternoon.
The Fijian-born academic's Canberra-based family said he was escorted from his home by military officials who refused to provide the reason for his detention or information as to where he was being taken.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed last night the Australian High Commission in Suva was urgently seeking to confirm with Fijian authorities the detention of an Australian academic and to obtain immediate consular access to him.
The ANU expressed concern that Professor Lal was being questioned by the Fijian military.
''We understand he was taken for questioning shortly after he gave several media interviews commenting about the political situation in Fiji,'' a university spokesperson said.
An internationally recognised expert on Fiji politics and history, Professor Lal is a prominent advocate of democratic freedoms and human rights in Fiji.
He was a member of the Fiji Constitution Review Commission whose report formed the basis of Fiji's now suspended constitution.
Professor Lal's daughter Yogi Lal-Parks said last night her family expected he would be deported from Fiji, possibly on the first flight today.
She said her family was immensely proud of her father's role as a campaigner for democracy and the rule of law.
Professor Lal's arrest came shortly after the Australian Government announced the expulsion of Fiji's top diplomat in Canberra, acting high commissioner Kamlesh Kumar Arya.
This was in response to a similar move by self-appointed Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama who declared on Tuesday the Australian High Commissioner in Fiji, James Batley, and his New Zealand counterpart, acting High Commissioner Todd Cleaver, to be persona non grata, giving them 24 hours to leave the country.
Commodore Bainimarama accused Australia and New Zealand of trying to sabotage the Fijian judiciary by imposing travel bans on judicial appointees.
The Australian and New Zealand governments have imposed travel restrictions on Fijian officials as a consequence of Commodore Bainimarama's abrogation of Fiji's constitution and refusal to hold elections in accordance with a timetable urged by the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Australian Government ramped up its rhetoric against the Fijian military regime yesterday, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying Australia would not allow a ''coup culture'' to spread throughout the Pacific. ''That's why we'll maintain a hard line in relation to this regime,'' he told ABC Radio.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia was open to dialogue with Commodore Bainimarama over Fiji's return to democracy.