Under the deal mediated by the former prime minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka, indigenous militant groups on the main island of Guadalcanal will be dissolved immediately, with their members handing in their weapons to local chiefs. The state of emergency currently in force will continue for the time being.

Mr Rabuka said he would personally take the accord into the jungle east of the capital of Honiara on Tuesday to ensure that the leaders of the pro-Guadalcanal Isiantabu Freedom Fighters (IFF) group will honour it.

The IFF has spearheaded a campaign to drive ethnic Malaitan settlers from other islands off Guadalcanal, saying that they deprived locals of jobs and land.

(Click here to see a map of the islands)

Officially, six people have died in the conflict this year, but non-government organisations speak of many more deaths. On Sunday, the exodus of Malaitans from Guadalcanal continued with a packed boat full of returnees leaving Honiara.

The four-page peace accord was finalised over three days of meetings with representatives of the Guadalcanal and Malaita provincial governments.

It says those arrested should be face due legal process but also urges the government to promote reconciliation by showing mercy in any subsequent court cases.

Compensation

The agreement says that land and compensation issues should be reviewed within six months to ensure the "even development" of all provinces in the Solomon Islands.

It noted that since 1978, Guadalcanal people had been demanding a return of alienated lands "acquired illegally by migrating Milaitans who form the largest group of workers in Honiara".

It also acknowledged the "enforced return of Malaitans, some of whom have spent all their lives in Guadalcanal, to their territory will involve loss of property and a tremendous amount of discomfort".