Forum decides on armed rescue force

By GREG ANSLEY

SYDNEY - The nations of the Pacific yesterday agreed to commit an armed force to restore order to the Solomon Islands, sending a sharp warning to militants to lay down their weapons.

Invoking for the first time the two-year-old Bitekawa Declaration governing intervention in the affairs of its member states, the Pacific Island Forum said the consensus reached in Sydney was a reflection of the severity of the crisis.

Australia will lead the force with about 1500 troops and police.

New Zealand will commit up to 200 soldiers and 40 police, supported by offers of assistance from more than half of the forum's 16 member states.

With several hundred firearms in the hands of militants and criminals, including automatic weapons, combat troops will be deployed to quell opposition by militants such as warlord Harold Keke on the island of Guadalcanal.

"If the intervention is to take place, in these circumstances Harold Keke and his people would be well-advised to turn themselves in and follow the normal course of justice in Honiara," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

"That would be the message I'd deliver to Harold Keke."

A formal request to send armed police and troops, followed by a long-term programme to restore the functions of government and the economy, is expected to be approved and issued by the islands' Cabinet this week.

Parliament will resume on July 8 to amend legislation to legalise the operation of foreign police, allowing the Pacific force to deploy late this month or early August.

It follows two unsuccessful appeals to the UN for intervention last year, and growing alarm in the region at the collapse of law and order and the inability of the islands' elected leaders to govern.

Foreign Minister Laurie Chan welcomed the decision to rescue his country, listing the problems that have led to its description as the Pacific's first failed state.

"You're talking about the economy, you're talking of Treasury being harassed and intimidated, you're looking at a Cabinet not being able to meet in Cabinet [rooms] - we had to go to different locations for it - you're talking about militants shooting at the Prime Minister's house," Mr Chan said.

"I'm absolutely happy and my country's very happy [at the planned intervention].

"I think that after the last three years we've finally had an opportunity to feel safe, an opportunity of actually getting back to normal, doing the normal things.

"We've been very flabbergasted with such a remarkable consensus [and] I'm very grateful to Australia and New Zealand taking the lead in this."

Foreign Minister Phil Goff, describing yesterday's decision as a watershed, said there was overwhelming agreement that there was a need to provide assistance to a neighbour and fellow forum member.