Solomons warlord Keke surrenders to peacekeepers

CANBERRA - Solomon Islands warlord Harold Keke has surrendered to an Australian-led intervention force in a major breakthrough in efforts to restore order in the lawless South Pacific nation, Australia said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Keke and three other senior militants surrendered today and were being transported on an Australian navy vessel from their Weathercoast stronghold to the capital, Honiara.

"This is a very important development in the life of the Australian-led mission in Solomon Islands," Downer told parliament.

"The surrender by Harold Keke sends a very clear message to other militants in the Solomon Islands that there remains no excuse whatsoever now to not hand in guns before the end of the current gun amnesty which ends on August 21," he said.

Australia is leading a 2,225-strong force of police, troops and civilian administrators to restore law and order in the Solomons, the largest military deployment in the South Pacific since World War Two, and restore shattered institutions.

Hundreds have been killed since rival militias from Guadalcanal and Malaita islands began fighting five years ago. The former British protectorate spiralled towards anarchy and bankruptcy since a police-backed coup in June 2000.

With the country in chaos, Keke and his followers have ruled their Weathercoast stronghold in the south of the main island of Guadalcanal.

They have been accused of killing dozens of people, including a government minister last year, rape, torture and of razing several villages which forced hundreds of refugees to trek overland to camps set up outside Honiara.

Downer said Keke had been arrested on an outstanding warrant for robbery but there would now be a full investigation into other suspected crimes by the warlord and his followers, including murder.

Keke had met intervention force leaders twice in the past week and told them last Friday that six Anglican missionaries he had taken hostage four months ago were all dead.

Solomons sources have said the missionaries were killed by one of Keke's lieutenants.

Downer said Keke's removal had led to local villagers and militants handing over 40 weapons, making it possible to set up a police post on the Weathercoast.

The intervention force has declared a 21-day amnesty for the return of up to 1,300 illegal guns, many of which were stolen from a police armoury in 2000.

- REUTERS