Pacific Island Forum countries stand ready to assist Fiji so that Fiji can make the earliest possible return to constitutional democracy through free and fair elections.

These are the words of Forum Secretary General Tuiloma Slade at the Regional Security Meeting held at the Forum Secretariat in Suva yesterday.

Slade said despite increasingly deep concerns at the negative and wide-ranging impacts of events over the past two and a half years on the people of Fiji, Forum leaders have continued to express hope and encouragement for Fiji's return to democracy.

Defence Minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau said Fiji had not been invited to attend the security meeting in Suva while the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said he has not received the fax on the matter as yet and therefore cannot comment.