Australia and New Zealand sent more troops to the Solomons to bolster security amid fears the opening of parliament could trigger further riots in the impoverished Pacific island nation. Solomon Islands police commissioner Shane Castles said security forces would be prepared for any incident across the capital Honiara when parliament sits Monday.Australia, New Zealand and Fiji had already sent more than 300 soldiers and police to restore law and order in Solomon Islands after two days of looting and violence last week left parts of Honiara in ruins. An additional 25 Australian troops and 53 from New Zealand would join the existing force to help prevent any more of the violence, which was sparked by anger at last Tuesday's election of Snyder Rini as the new prime minister.
The heavy security presence, as well as a dusk-to-dawn curfew and an alcohol ban, have seen the looting and devastation die down over the past few days, but police believe trouble may flare again when parliament opens.
Rini will face a vote of no confidence from opposition MPs who say support for his ouster is growing because members of the new coalition government, including newly appointed cabinet minister Patrick Vahoe, are defecting. But a defiant Rini said he would not resign and was adamant he still had the numbers to govern. The latest rioting in the Solomons, which laid waste to the Chinatown district of Honiara, came amid allegations that Rini rose to power corruptly and with the aid of Chinese money, a charge the new leader denied.
He met with the visiting Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Saturday and said if people had evidence of corruption they should take it up with the police and not take to the streets.
The Solomons have been wracked by years of civil unrest centred on a conflict between natives of Guadalcanal island -- where Honiara is situated -- and immigrants from neighbouring Malaita island. Although an Australian-led intervention arrived in July 2003 and successfully disarmed the militants, its critics say the underlying problems of political corruption and economic inequality remain.