Pacific peacekeepers mandate extended

in the Solomons

The Pacific peacekeeping force operating in the troubled Solomon Islands province of Guadalcanal has had its mandate extended for three months, the Commonwealth Secretariat said in a statement.

The Fijian-led Multinational Police Assistance Group (MPAG) includes Fiji and Vanuatu police officers and also gets funding and logistics support from Australia and New Zealand.

Last year indigenous islanders on Guadalcanal - home to the capital, Honiara - drove migrant Malaita Islanders out of the countryside, killing an unknown number, making at least 10,000 refugees and seizing hostages.

Last week a new group, the Malaita Eagle Force, seized police arms on Malaita and took them to Guadalcanal, sparking fears of revenge attacks.

Former Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Commonwealth Secretariat deputy director Ade Adefuye of Nigeria last year negotiated a truce on the island and returned later to review the work of MPAG.

The commonwealth statement said a

two-day progress review with MPAG member nations, the Solomons, Britain and the provincial governments of Guadalcanal and Malaita has just ended.

They decided that from February 1, MPAG would have greater active cooperation with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force “in promoting the concept of community policy, while continuing its on-going support for other aspects of the peace process”.

MPAG would also assist in the investigation of “criminal activities that have arisen as a result of the ethnic tension, including the issue of missing persons” and would assist in the collection of weapons.

Their mandate would be extended for another three months.

A diplomatic source said the meeting also stressed the need for continued commonwealth involvement.

It was clear the peacekeeping group had won a high-level of acceptance in the country, he said, and it was to their advantage to remain in place in a bid to complete all the objectives of last year’s peace accord.

Afp

Peacemaker... former Fiji Prime Minister Siveni Rabuka

The commonwealth took active interest in the Solomons situation