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Down Under | |||
Australia ready to send troops to Solomons | |||
2003-06-25 | |||
Australian troops and police will be sent to rescue the failing state of the Solomons Islands under a new policy of active intervention in the Pacific. The commitment depends on the consent of the Solomon Islands government. Disarming a violent militia hiding in remote jungle is expected to be one of the prime objectives of the Australian-led peacekeeping mission. The militia is led by Harold Keke, said by some locals to be insane. There's a lot of that going around. The Prime Minister, John Howard, told Parliament yesterday: "Our willingness to undertake an operation of this kind does represent a very significant change in regional policy. It is not in Australia's interests to have a number of failed states in the Pacific." The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, called it "co-operative intervention". Forces were likely to be on the ground within weeks. He said Australians did not want to be "neo-colonialists" and local support was a pre-requisite. But there was "no point in undertaking an operation like this in a half-hearted way". Mr Howard signalled there would be a "quite substantial" deployment of troops and police.
It's always better to treat a cancer early on. The final shape of Australia's contribution to a multinational security force is yet to be determined but it will involve ADF personnel providing protection for a contingent of police from Australia, New Zealand and a handful of other Pacific nations. Seizing weapons Mr Keke and his followers have a large stash of them and used them to kill up to 10 people last week will be a main objective. Australian bureaucrats will also be inserted into the upper echelons of the Solomons' Department of Finance, other government departments and the central bank, while jurists are also likely to be sent to rebuild the justice system. Australia and other nations will also provide financial assistance. Mr Downer would not comment on the likely cost, but the Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimated that the operation could take up to 10 years, at a cost of $85 million a year.
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Posted by:Steve |