Australia to lead peace team to troubled Solomons

November 6, 2000
Web posted at: 12:28 PM HKT (0428 GMT)

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia will lead a 49-member unarmed peace monitoring team to the Solomon Islands to oversee the surrender of weapons and a peace accord signed last month by warring ethnic militias on the South Pacific nation.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday the team, composed of Australians and New Zealanders, includes police and defence officials, supported by troops.

The peace monitoring team will be in full operation by early December.

Downer said other Pacific island nations could join the force at a later date, but he declined to name possible participants.

The provision of an international monitoring team was agreed to as part of a peace deal signed in October by rival ethnic militias from Malaita and Guadalcanal islands, ending two years of conflict in the former British colony which has left 100 dead.

The team will be in place for at least six months, at a cost to Australia of A$4-5 million ($2.1-$2.6 million), Downer said.

"The first members are already on the ground, preparing for the arrival later this week of the rest of the group. The full rotation of 49 will be in Solomon Islands by early December," Downer said in a statement.

Talks between the militias and government officials in Townsville, Australia, last month brought a fragile peace to the island nation, 1,600 km (1,000 miles) northeast of Australia.

The Malaita Eagles Force (MEF) and Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM) have fought a two-year battle over land rights on the main island of Guadalcanal. The IFM from Guadalcanal resent the migration of Malaitans to their island, claiming they have taken the top jobs in the capital Honiara.

In June, the MEF staged a coup, sealing off Honiara and forcing the then government to step aside for a interim administration. Hundreds of foreigners were evacuated.

Downer said the Australian-led monitoring team would supervise the surrender of weapons, hold regular inspections of the stored arms, and report to the Peace Monitoring Council set up under the Townsville accord.

He dismissed a report in Melbourne's The Age newspaper that the peace team would face a devastated country of destroyed homes, businesses and villages.

"Certainly by the paper, things must have got a lot worse since I was there," a chuckling Downer told a news conference.

He said that while there were risks involved in the mission, the situation in the Solomons had "very much improved." Still, the team would not remain in place if violence erupted again.

"If the peace accord collapsed...there wouldn't be much role any longer for a peace monitoring team. But we have no reason to believe that's going to happen," Downer said.

The Solomons comprise a string of islands with little industry. All major businesses including a gold mine, fish cannery operation and logging operation have closed due to the fighting.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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