Australian troops on stand-by to head to Solomons

CANBERRA - Australia said today it was poised to send troops to the Solomon Islands after rioting and looting through the night following the election of a new prime minister in the South Pacific nation.

Rioters set fire to shops in Chinatown, razing many buildings in protest at the election of Snyder Rini yesterday, claiming his new government would be heavily influenced by local Chinese businessmen and the Taiwan government.

"During the night there has been a continuation of lawlessness in Honiara," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "There's a very good chance that on the basis of the advice we have from Honiara that some troops will be sent there."

The Solomons, a chain of 992 islands covering 1.35 million sq km of ocean, teetered on the brink of collapse in 2003 when armed gangs fought over Honiara.

Australia led a multinational force into the Solomons to restore peace in what was the biggest military deployment in the South Pacific since World War Two.

"We are absolutely determined that the Solomon Islands will be a stable democratic country and that can only happen if we go the distance," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Australian radio.

Downer said 17 Australian police had been injured in overnight clashes. Some 280 Australian police are in the Solomons as part of a peacekeeping operation.

Rini, deputy prime minister in the previous government, won a secret parliamentary ballot but was trapped in parliament for most of the day with many members of his new government over fears for their safety.

"The protesters were shouting yesterday that this was a Chinese government because the president of the party that Snyder Rini belongs to is a naturalised Chinese ... so they were saying this is a Chinese-backed government," government spokesman Johnson Honimae told Reuters.

"Some Solomon Islanders have been resentful of the Chinese. (The Chinese) were taking up all the businesses in town and all the staff and prices were increasing unreasonably. It's something that people have been holding within them," he said.

The Solomon Islands has diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

"Some people decided to take to the streets, particularly focussing on the Chinese people because they believe Synder Rini has been supported by the Chinese, not just ethnic Chinese in the Solomon Islands, but by the Taiwanese as well," Downer said.

China and Taiwan have long battled for diplomatic recognition from South Pacific nations, eager for their support in international forums.

In early April the troubled Solomons, with a population of about half a million, held its first election since peacekeepers restored order three years ago. About half the members of the previous parliament were ousted by voters fed up with corruption and demanding a new government.

Honimae said Rini had been moved to a safe location and it was not yet known whether Rini's swearing-in would happen today as planned.

"Chinatown is basically burnt down, there are only a couple of shops left standing. Right up to this morning looting is still continuing," said Honimae, adding he did not believe the protests against Rini reflected widespread discontent.

- REUTERS