Fiji's self-appointed prime minister Frank Bainimarama has tightened his grip on information in his country, deciding he alone should be the army's media spokesman.

The move is expected to make it tougher for journalists to get information about the workings of the Fiji government, which has been controlled by the military since a bloodless coup in December 2006.

Bainimarama issued a directive that said all public relations work regarding the military should pass through him instead of the previous spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Qiliho, Fijilive reported.

The decision came after Qiliho reportedly told the Fiji Times newspaper that the country's Military Council, which advises the coup-installed government, had recommended Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry be investigated.

Qiliho was forced to deny the story was accurate.

Chaudhry has been at the centre of allegations he committed tax evasion.

The move by Bainimarama comes amid a new media offensive in the country, in which Australian publisher Russell Hunter was last week deported after publishing allegations about Chaudhry.

This week, a journalist from the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation was summoned to a meeting with soldiers after they misheard a story he had written.

There was also a report commissioned by the Fiji Human Rights Commission, an organisation sympathetic to the interim government, released last week which recommended the media be more heavily regulated and foreign media workers not work in Fiji.

Bainimarama could not be contacted for comment. The Age Online/AAP/Pacific Media Watch, 09/03/08.