Get us out of here cry trapped Kiwis

A group of New Zealanders trapped in the Solomon Islands capital is desperate to get home, as a battle rages nearby with casualties said to number as many as 100 dead.

A New Zealander living in Honiara, who did not want to be named, said he woke yesterday morning to sounds of heavy fire from a police patrol boat, which the rebel Malaitan Eagle Force seized on Monday.

The Eagle Force says it has killed about 100 rival militiamen in fighting around the airport, a claim backed by Special Minister of State Alfred Sasako.

Six holidaying New Zealand scuba divers have been stranded in the King Solomon Hotel since the Eagle Force took over Honiara and they want someone to get them out.

"There are a lot of very, very frightened people here - a lot of tears," said John Smith, a Christchurch truck driver.

"We're absolutely worried about our safety. We're in a hotel that's one block away from the main street.

"We're extremely exposed - there's just a wee bit of trellis in front of us and a few trees.

"I don't know what the hell is going to happen. But somebody needs to do something about it."

The frigate HMNZS Te Mana is on the way to the Solomon Islands and an Air Force Hercules is on standby to evacuate New Zealanders if required.

A senior journalist for the Solomon Star, Ofani Eremae, said rival militia groups had set up camps on opposite sides of a creek near the airport and were firing at each other.

"They were spraying the bush with bullets and shooting each other," he said yesterday afternoon."There are people dying, but I cannot confirm how many."

British Euro-MPs Glenys Kinnock and John Corrie, sent to the Solomons to try to broker a peace deal, had a hair-raising flight out.

Their chartered aircraft had to make two attempts at takeoff after being strafed with a fusillade of bullets and damaged. No one was hurt and they were safe in Papua New Guinea last night.

Mrs Kinnock is the wife of former British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.

The Eagles last night released Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu under a deal in which his fate is to be decided by Parliament next week. He had been under house arrest since the coup on Monday.

- STAFF REPORTERS, AGENCIES