PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - South Pacific leaders on Tuesday demanded Fiji's military regime hold elections to restore democracy by the end of the year or face tough sanctions, including the withholding of aid money.

The ultimatum aimed at Commodore Frank Bainimarama, chief of the country's armed forces, marked a sharp escalation in the international push to force the military from power after more than two years.

It came even as Bainimarama declared that it could be 10 years before he gives up power.

After a special meeting on the problem in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, leaders of the 16-member Pacific Island Forum issued a statement demanding Bainimarama's government name an election date by May 1, and hold the elections by the end of December.

If Bainimarama does not comply, Fiji will be suspended from all of the regional bloc's meetings and lose out on development funding until democratic government is restored.

"More than two years of rule by an unelected military government, with no clear timetable for the return of constitutional government to the people, is not acceptable by international standards," the leaders said.

There were no details about how much aid might be threatened. Australia and New Zealand pump tens of millions of dollars each year to government and nongovernment programs in Fiji, where the economy is in tatters after decades of political instability.

Bainimarama, whose 2006 coup was his country's fourth since 1987, promised the regional forum in 2007 that he would call elections by this April. He refused to attend Tuesday's meeting, saying he needed to stay home to deal with the aftermath of recent deadly floods.

The grouping stopped short of immediately suspending Fiji _ an action never taken against a rogue member-state in the bloc's more than 30-year history.

But the ultimatum suggested a diplomatic victory for Australia and New Zealand, which have been the harshest critics of Bainimarama, over smaller states that have dragged their heels on stiffer penalties against Fiji.

Bainimarama did not immediately respond. But on Monday, the Fijilive Web site reported that he said he must amend the constitution to reform electoral law before he calls elections - even if it takes 10 years.