TMCnet News
Violence continues as Australian, N.Z. troops enter Solomons+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)SYDNEY, April 20_(Kyodo) _ The Solomon Islands remain tense despite Australian and New Zealand troops rushing to the strife-torn South Pacific nation, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said Thursday. Australia has sent 110 troops and more than 70 police officers to help quell riots that erupted in the capital Honiara after Snyder Rini, a former deputy prime minister, was elected prime minister Tuesday. An Australian Federal Police spokesman in Canberra told Kyodo News 26 AFP officers and three New Zealand police were injured in the violence. "The fact that we now have 29 police injured demonstrates the danger of the situation," Ellison told the Nine Network. Australian Associated Press reported 2,000 protesters marched on government house Tuesday before storming the main commercial area of Chinatown, burning and looting Chinese-owned businesses. Protesters have accused the Chinese community of bribing members of the government and backing the election of Rini, AAP reported. AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty has defended his officers against criticism that they aggravated the situation by firing tear gas at protestors. "If this had happened four years ago, we would now be counting up the death toll of the events over the last 24 hours," Keelty told Australian Broadcasting Corp. The violence in Honiara is the worst unrest there since Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific governments intervened in 2003 to end years of civil war. |