SUVA, Fiji — Fiji’s military commander warned yesterday that the prime minister’s refusal to resign may lead to bloodshed and violence in the troubled South Pacific nation.“The last thing we want to do is have violence, the last thing we want to do is have bloodshed, but (Prime Minister Laisenia) Qarase is pointing us in that direction,” Commodore Frank Bainimarama said. Qarase vowed yesterday that his government would not be forced out by the hostile military commander, instead offering to meet with Bainimarama for talks aimed at averting a confrontation.

But Bainimarama was adamant that Qarase and his “corrupt government” had to leave office. “The fact he doesn’t want to accede to our request, the fact that he does not resign ... it has put us in a situation where there’s going to be bloodshed and violence,” he said.