Aid offer for Solomons

By MARY-LOUISE O'CALLAGHAN


HONIARA - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has offered his Solomon Islands counterpart, Allan Kemakeza, the prospect of Australian military and police intervention in the island nation's growing security crisis.

The offer, made during a crisis summit at the Prime Minister's official Canberra residence yesterday, is conditional on the Kemakeza Government committing to a raft of stringent economic and anti-corruption reforms.

A team of Australian and New Zealand officials is expected to head for the Solomons next week to assess the scope any intervention should take.

Issues to be assessed include the need to recover all illegal weapons, re-establish the rule of law and end the civil unrest on the remote Weathercoast.

Howard announced the mission yesterday without revealing any further details, although it is understood that broad Solomons community support for any intervention is a prerequisite.

The Kemakeza Government last night was overjoyed at the prospect of outside intervention, saying the offer of expatriate military and police was a major breakthrough.

"This is not the usual fact-finding mission, things are going to happened very fast now," a senior Solomon Islands official said last night.

"They've made up their mind to help us to solve our problems so we now feel that real, solid assistance is on the way."