AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
The top U.S. military chief for the Pacific will meet New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Defense Minister Phil Goff Friday despite the strained military relationship between the two countries.
The meetings in Auckland follow a one day visit by Admiral William Fallon, head of the U.S. Pacific command, to Antarctica on Thursday.
A spokesman for Goff said regional security and defense issues would be discussed, possibly including the recent political instability in Fiji.
Fallon will also meet senior defense force staff on his first visit to New Zealand since taking up the Pacific command in February last year.
Dr Paul Buchanan, senior lecturer in political studies at Auckland University, told the New Zealand Herald that Fallon
