In a village east of Honiara, a
Guadalcanal guerilla waits for
a meeting with Sitiveni
Rabuka. Photo by PAUL
DALEY.
Armed rebels took the Solomon Islands Prime Minister prisoner and an
Australian-owned goldmine was raided as the Pacific was
jolted yesterday by another violent attempted coup.
Gunmen seized the Prime Minister, Mr Bartholomew
Ulufa'alu, in an early morning raid, cutting communications
and air links and setting up road-blocks in the capital, Honiara.
In a move believed to have been sparked by Mr George
Speight's armed insurrection in neighbouring Fiji, the
so-called Malaita Eagle Force put Mr Ulufa'alu and the
Governor-General under house arrest and demanded
the Prime Minister's resignation.
The leader of the attempted coup, Mr Andrew Nori, a lawyer who acts for the
Malaita Eagles, broadcast a statement on national radio saying his aim was to
restore law and order and confidence in the Government.
Mr Nori, a long-term political rival of the Prime Minister, is described as
a fiery,
outspoken character.
As the Eagles attacked, armed members of their ethnic rival group, the Isatabu
Freedom Movement, burst into the Gold Ridge mine site - owned by the
Australian company Delta Gold - and stole weapons and mine vehicles.
Delta said the armed men had "maintained a presence on the mine property"
but
earlier news agency reports that about 40 Australian workers had been taken
hostage were false.
A spokesman for the Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, said: "We're just very
happy
that report has proven to be false."
Late yesterday afternoon militia members were still stationed outside the
perimeter of the mine but the Australian Government believed the workers were
not in danger.
"We've certainly had no information there was a physical threat or physical
violence against any person," a spokesman for the Department of Foreign
Affairs
and Trade (DEFAT) said.
The Malaita Eagle raiders had seized their weapons from police stations around
Honiara and also from Australian-supplied patrol boats in the port, the Solomon
Island Broadcasting Corporation reported.
A curfew was due to be enforced at 8 o'clock last night, with all businesses
and
banks closed in Honiara. All scheduled flights into the capital today and
tomorrow were cancelled.
The Federal Government last night advised Australians in the Solomons to stay
indoors, take security precautions and await further advice. About 830 Australians
are in the Solomons, including 42 at the Gold Ridge mine and their families.
DEFAT said last night that armed Malaita rebels had taken over major
installations, including police stations, and controlled major intersections
in
Honiara.
"While tourists and expatriates have not been the specific target of ethnic
tension,
there have been armed criminal attacks and other incidents over the last several
weeks involving an increasing number of tourists and expatriates on the main
island Guadalcanal," the department said.
It has advised that Australians should defer any plans to travel
to the Solomons.
The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, condemned the kidnappings but said there were
limits to the role Australia could play in the affairs of other nations.
He told Parliament: "The Government is as concerned about that situation
as it is
about the events in Fiji."
However, the New Zealand Foreign Minister, Mr Phil Goff, warned that the rebel
action could spark a civil war between the Malaitans and the Isatabu Freedom
Movement (IFM).
The two rebel groups have been fighting over ethnic land rights for the past
18
months, with the IFM trying to get Malaitans off the main island of Guadalcanal
and back to their own nearby island.
This text may have been edited to protect the writer.
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