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Pacific states back Solomons force
By CNN's Grant Holloway
SYDNEY, Australia -- Pacific nation foreign ministers meeting in Sydney have backed a plan to send a multinational peacekeeping force to the strife-torn Solomon Islands. "Ministers endorsed the provision of a package of strengthened assistance to Solomon Islands including a policing operation to restore law and order, supported, as required, by armed peacekeepers," the Pacific Islands Forum said in a statement after a meeting in Sydney Monday. As many as 2,000 troops and police could be stationed in the Solomons by the end of July in a bid to restore the rule of law to the Pacific nation. It will be the largest military deployment in the region since the Second Word War. Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Laurie Chan said his embattled country was happy with the decision by his Pacific neighbors to back the 10-year peacekeeping operation, Reuters reports. "I think ... we finally have an opportunity to feel safe, an opportunity to get back to normal," Chan told reporters outside the Sydney meeting. So far, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have agreed to commit forces to the peace-keeping effort. Australia was eager to gain the endorsement of the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum to dispel the perception that it was acting in a neo-colonial fashion towards its Pacific neighbors. In April this year Solomon Island Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza made a personal request to Australian leader John Howard to supply forces to help restore order in his country. But any move is still dependent on a formal request for action by the Solomon Island's Governor-General following a decision by the country's cabinet. Such a request is expected in the next few weeks. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said before the meeting that a boost in aid to the impoverished nation was also being considered. He said it was important the intervention provided support for the re-establishment of the justice system, the courts and the prisons in the Solomon Islands as well as the finance ministry and other arms of the economy. New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said Monday the United Nations was also set to give its approval for the intervention. He told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio Monday that he had been in touch with the political affairs department of the United Nations who said they would support Australian and New Zealand efforts in this matter. Ethnic violenceThe UN regarded Australia and New Zealand as being critical in maintaining stability in the Pacific region, he said. The Solomon Islands is home to around 500,000 people and lie in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of Australia. The country has been hit by continuing ethnic violence since 1998 and the government has little, if any control, of the country outside of the capital, Honiara. It is estimated that only 10 percent of the country's consolidated revenue reaches the Treasury, the rest being dispersed in the form of bribes and extortion. The move by Australia is a significant change of policy towards its troubled Pacific neighbors, reversing an earlier "hands off" stance. Australia could send around 200 police and 1,500 troops while New Zealand is prepared to commit up to 200 troops and 30 police to an intervention force.
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