Australia 'ready to help Solomons'

Australia fears the knock-on effects of a security breakdown

The Australian Government has said it is ready to take part in a multi-national force to help restore law and order in the violence-wracked Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday that he was "strongly disposed" to meet a request for assistance from his Solomons counterpart, Allan Kemakeza, as increasing ethnic violence continued to threaten the archipelago.

But Mr Howard added that no final decisions had been taken.

"The assistance that is being contemplated includes substantial policing, law and justice and economic assistance, backed up by significant operational support from the Australian Defence Force," Mr Howard told parliament.

But he said that help would only be offered after a formal request from the Solomon Islands Government, and co-operation with New Zealand and other Pacific island nations.

Ethnic tensions

The Solomons have suffered serious ethnic unrest in recent years, according to the BBC correspondent in Sydney, Phil Mercer.

Law and order across many parts of the snaking archipelago have collapsed.

The economy is almost bankrupt and, according to our correspondent, Australians are worried that a failing state on their doorstep could become a haven for terrorists and drug traffickers.

"It is not in Australia's interest to have a number of failed states in the Pacific," Mr Howard told parliament on Wednesday.

The Red Cross in the Solomons' capital, Honiara, says that up to 1,000 people have fled their villages on the remote Weather Coast to escape militants.

The militants have torched homes and reportedly taken hostages to bolster their control over the mountainous region.

The plague of violence is mainly due to an ethnic war between indigenous residents of the main island of Guadalcanal and migrants from the nearby province of Malaita.

The conflict was officially brought to an end three years ago by the Townsville Accord.

But the peace has been uneasy, and armed gangs operate with impunity in many areas.

So far this year more than 30 people have been murdered, and last month an Australian missionary was beheaded.