Solomons rebels agree to disarm

By Phil Mercer
BBC correspondent in Honiara

One of the most powerful militia groups in the Solomon Islands has agreed to surrender its weapons to international peacekeepers.

Leaders from the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) have promised that decommissioning will take place on 15 August.

MEF leader Jimmy Rasta [right] held talks with peacekeepers

The Australian-led intervention force - which arrived last week on a mission to restore order and arrest economic and social decay on the islands - has said the declaration by the MEF is an important step forward.

It has, however, warned the militants that any weapons not handed in will be tracked down.

The MEF says it will hand over its weapons in a public ceremony in the provincial capital, Auki, in just over two weeks' time.

The senior diplomat in charge of the multinational force, Nick Warner, said he hoped the MEF's decision would make other militia gangs see sense and give up their arsenals as well.

Mr Warner said the time for guns and violence in the Solomon Islands was over, and all efforts should now be directed towards rebuilding this crippled country.

The MEF staged a coup three years ago, with help from renegade police officers, and was in control of Honiara until the arrival of the foreign peacekeeping contingent six days ago.

The group had fought a brutal ethnic war over land rights and jobs with the Isatabu Freedom Movement, made up of indigenous residents of the main island of Guadalcanal.

Tracking the success of the decommissioning process will be difficult.

It is unclear how many weapons remain in the hands of former combatants.

Hundreds of high-powered firearms, including machineguns and semi-automatic rifles, are thought to be out there somewhere.

The peacekeepers have warned they will mount a vigorous pursuit of people suspected of stockpiling weapons.