Peters waits for Solomons dust to settle

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will go to the Solomon Islands once the political situation is more settled, Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday.

While Defence Minister Phil Goff heads to the troubled country today, 24 hours after the dramatic resignation of its newly elected Prime Minister Snyder Rini, Mr Peters wanted to see a government "settled" in the Solomon Islands before going, Helen Clark said.

Mr Peters is due to visit with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in a few weeks.

Moves to replace Mr Rini will be made today in Honiara when MPs vote to elect a new prime minister. That person would need to appoint a cabinet.

One of the MPs who defected from Mr Rini's Government - former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare - is favoured to take over.

Helen Clark said political developments in the Solomons were "not particularly clear at this point".

She said there was a crisis on three levels - law and order, economic and political leadership.

In Honiara, Police Commissioner Shane Castles said the departure of Mr Rini may have let "some steam out of the valve" of a tense security situation and that he planned to meet the Government to advise on whether the curfew and other emergency regulations should be lifted.

The violence last week - which has already led to the arrest and detention of two prominent Opposition MPs for their alleged roles in the rampage - was the worst since the Australian-led intervention in the country of about 500,000 people.

The arrival last week of military and police reinforcements, mainly from Australia and New Zealand, doubled the strength of foreign security forces in the Solomons.

The heavy security presence has secured an uneasy calm.

About 50 buildings in Chinatown were razed in the burning and looting as well as businesses owned by ethnic Chinese in other parts of the city.

Mr Rini and Taiwan have rejected claims he was taking money to bribe other MPs for support. The Solomon Islands is one of 26 countries that gives diplomatic recognition to Taiwan.

- NZPA, AGENCIES