The head of Australian-led peacekeepers in the Solomon Islands will soon meet one of the lawless South Pacific nation?s warring factions, who yesterday said they were willing to surrender their guns. The 2,225-strong force of police and troops also set a deadline yesterday for ?thieves, drunkards and extortionists? in the hapless local police force to hand in high-powered weapons stolen from armouries and illegally kept at home. Nick Warner, the Australian diplomat leading the multinational intervention to end ethnic clashes and wipe out corruption, said Malaitan Eagle Force (MEF) co-founder Jimmy Rasta and others had gotten in touch and asked for talks.

?I would hope that that would lead to discussions later this week,? Warner told reporters in the capital Honiara, large parts of which have been controlled by Malaitan militia since a police-backed coup in 2000. The rebels, who began fighting Guadalcanal islanders in 1998 over land disputes around Honiara, said separately they wanted a 30-day amnesty to hand in their arms. They said they planned a traditional surrender of arms to tribal priests on August 15 and invited peacekeepers to attend. ?We don?t want to fight peacekeepers and we can?t match them,? Rasta told. Authorities were expected to declare an amnesty in Honiara this week for the surrender of some of the 1,300 illegal weapons in the 1,000-island chain that is home to 450,000 people.

Long-term programme

At the same time, an Australian patrol boat and mine sweeper ? the latter due in two weeks ? will interdict inter-island arms smugglers and patrol the waters separating the Solomons from Papua New Guinea?s troubled Bougainville island, which remains awash with arms after a 10-year war of secession. The intervention force destroyed 25, consisting mainly of homemade rifles. McDevitt said another five weapons had since been surrendered. The state of the local police force is emblematic of the woes that persuaded embattled PM, Allan Kemakeza earlier this month to seek outside help.

The intervention force?s initial objective has been to secure Honiara using joint patrols with local police. The plan also includes a long-term programme to rebuild the government. Simon Mani, another Malaitan leader, said his men could not surrender arms to a foreign force.

?In our custom, when a warrior?s been to war and he came back, he surrendered his arms to the priest, so the priest can pray to the gods and the gods will then respect us and give us blessing,? Mani told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. In an interview with The Australian newspaper, the rebel leaders said they were setting no conditions. ?We want to make a lasting peace for Solomon Islands,? Rasta said. Rival militia leader Harold Keke, who controls the Guadalcanal Liberation Front, has called a ceasefire from his stronghold on the Weathercoast southwest of Honiara, but has not offered to surrender weapons.

Michael Christie