Anzacs arrest rebel leader

HONIARA - Solomon Islands rebel leader Harold Keke faces charges related to killings and kidnappings after he surrendered to the Anzac intervention force yesterday.

His decision to hand himself over to the force was hailed as a breakthrough in efforts to restore order in the Solomons.

Ben McDevitt, a senior Australian policeman on board HMAS Manoora where Keke was being held, said investigators planned to exhume the bodies of six missionary hostages who died in Keke's custody.

Keke, whose base was on the remote Weathercoast of Guadalcanal, has been blamed for more than 50 killings and kidnappings in the Solomons over 12 months.

Mr McDevitt said he expected many more allegations to be made against Keke.

"We will need to conduct exhumations and visit other grave sites," he said.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sir Allan Kemakeza, in Auckland for the Pacific Islands Forum, said last night that Keke's decision might lead to further surrenders.

"It is the biggest breakthrough and step forward in going towards peace and normalcy," Sir Allan said.

"He was the hard core who started off this ethnic tension, which brought our country in the last four years into the situation we have been under."

Prime Minister Helen Clark said Keke's surrender showed the "wisdom of a low-key approach.

"I'm just so pleased it's happened."



Keke has been a key figure in the Pacific nation's four-year civil war. He called himself a freedom fighter but is accused of mass murder and cold-blooded brutality.

He has always insisted he is not guilty of any crimes, claiming the Solomons' main problem is corrupt politicians and policemen.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Keke's surrender followed a week of secret discussions with intervention chief Nick Warner, and no deals were done.

"We made it clear to Mr Keke all along that there would be no deals done, just explained to him what the situation was and that the rule of law would be enforced."

Mr Downer said it highlighted the success of the Australian-led operation in the Solomons.

New Zealand police and troops are also involved.



Mr McDevitt said hundreds of other militants now had no excuse to keep guns for their protection.

"In the last 20 days we have been told on dozens if not hundreds of occasions by various people that they had been holding weapons because Harold Keke was at large and because Harold was in possession of weapons," he said.

"Well, thankfully for those people, that's now changed."

One week is left in a nationwide gun amnesty.

Intervention force helicopters landed on the beach at Keke's stronghold at Mbiti for the surrender.

Keke, two of his lieutenants, a secretary and six members of Keke's extended family boarded the Australian Sea King helicopters to be flown to the Manoora.

On board the Manoora, Mr McDevitt told Keke he was under arrest.

Keke was arrested on holding charges for failing to appear in court over the theft of fuel and a waterski boat in 1998.

Mr McDevitt said Keke had not asked for a lawyer, but the force would consider such a request if it were made.

The only assurance given was that he would be kept safe and receive a fair trial.

Mr McDevitt said the hearing might be held in the safety of the Manoora, and would probably be in a closed court.

With Keke removed, the intervention force would open two more military-backed police posts along the Weathercoast.

Mr Warner said Keke's surrender was an emotional experience for the militant group.

One of the militants yelled "the war is over", prompting the whole group to chant the phrase.

Keke had told the force he "wanted to face justice".

Foreign Minister Phil Goff said: "I think he surrendered because he knew with the track record that he had and the enemies that he created, neither he nor his family would be safe from the assassin's bullet.

"He will have been given guarantees as to his safety, but he will know full well that he will be held fully to account for his actions.

"One of the important aspects of his surrender is his acknowledgment in effect that the rule of armed men in the Solomons is over and we have restored the rule of law."

Mr Goff said New Zealand would have been involved in the surrender through the deputy special co-ordinator, Peter Noble.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said late last night that Keke's surrender was "very good news".

"It is a very important message that I want to send this meeting that we are very keen to help but an essential precondition is that people have got to get on top of corruption. The time when we could ignore this is long since passed."

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