Solomons on brink of civil war

By JOHN ARMSTRONG political editor

WELLINGTON - A senior New Zealand diplomat is part of a small team trying to avert all-out civil war in the Solomon Islands after armed rebels staged a coup and detained the Prime Minister.

John Hayes, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs troubleshooter who helped broker peace in neighbouring Bougainville, was already in the Solomons capital, Honiara, when gunmen took charge yesterday morning.

Along with a Commonwealth envoy, Australian and New Zealand diplomats were trying to reopen dialogue between rival factions in a long-running ethnic feud.

Mr Hayes had already met the frontman for the rebels, Andrew Nori, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Sir Baddeley Devesi. Last night Mr Hayes met Nori again for five hours. with the New Zealand and Australian High Commissioners.

If is unclear what, if anything, the talks achieved.

The South Pacific's second coup in just over two weeks was carried out by the Malaitan Eagle Force militia plus elements of the local police, prompting fears of retaliation by rival Guadalcanal militants.

There is a history of tension between the people of Guadalcanal, the main island, and immigrants from poorer Malaita.

NZ Foreign Minister Phil Goff condemned the coup and said he was worried that rebels from the Isatabu Freedom Movement would cut electricity and water to Malaitan-controlled Honiara, triggering civil war.

The coup occurred while a high-powered joint Australian-NZ mission was in Honiara trying to calm ethnic tension and strengthen the Commonwealth's police assistance group.

That force is made up of Fijian and Vanuatuan officers headed by a New Zealander, Rangi Rangihika, a former district commander of the Auckland police. He is in Brisbane convalescing after a minor operation.

At their earlier meeting, Nori, a lawyer who acts for the Malaitan Eagle Force, assured Mr Hayes that there would be a swift return to normal democratic processes.

The governing caucus would meet quickly either to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu or replace him. Parliament would be convened later today to confirm that change.

However, Mr Goff's understanding last night was that the Prime Minister was refusing to resign and the caucus meeting had been delayed.

New Zealand has been told that the coup is being justified on the basis that Mr Ulufa'alu had failed to resolve ethnic fighting and refused to step aside.

But Mr Goff warned that replacing the Government by force only risked making resolution of the country's tensions even harder. "No use of force to change a democratically elected Prime Minister is acceptable to New Zealand."

He ruled out military intervention by New Zealand and Australia, saying outside troops could be caught up in a civil war. But a later peacekeeping role for New Zealand and Commonwealth forces was possible.

"We have some influence, but no control," he said of Mr Hayes' role, "but he cannot create a miracle."

About 220 New Zealanders live in the Solomons, with around 180 in Honiara. They are not thought to be in danger.