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SOLOMONS MILITIA SIGN PACT WARRING Solomon Islands militia groups yesterday signed a breakthrough peace agreement aimed at ending the two-year ethnic conflict that has pushed the South Pacific nation to the brink of disintegration, the Australian reports. Hostilities are to cease immediately and the free movement of "people, food and fuel" is to be resumed in return for a general amnesty, under the terms of the Townsville peace agreement struck after a week of intense negotiations at the Garbutt RAAF base in Townsville yesterday. All arms and ammunition are to be surrendered and militia members repatriated to their home provinces of Malaita and Guadalcanal within 30 days. Although the importation of arms is to be banned for three years, the surrendered arms are to be stored for two years on the home islands of both militia groups under the supervision of an unarmed international peace-monitoring group. Members of the country's police and paramilitary bodies who took part in the armed takeover of the capital, Honiara, in June are also to be allowed to continue in their duties, although some may be redeployed to community policing within their home provinces. Repatriated militia members are to be employed in a program of public works in conjunction with non-government organisations within three months of returning home. The 30-page agreement covers a wide range of special provisions including improved health and education services and fast-tracked economic development for the provinces of Guadalcanal and Malaita. It directs that a constitutional commission must be established to amend the Solomons' independence constitution to provide for self-government for all the country's nine provinces and a commission of inquiry be held into the validity of land transactions on Guadalcanal, which sparked the conflict two years ago. It also directs the Government to legislate for a special criminal and civil amnesty for all illegal acts carried out as part of the conflict in the past two years, but ties it to the surrender of weapons. "Any person who unlawfully possesses or uses any firearms and ammunition (and) refuses to surrender the same shall not be granted amnesty," the agreement says. All sides to the conflict yesterday renounced violence, reaffirming their respect for human rights. "The parties to this agreement hereby declare that they renounce, deplore and do solemnly give up violence and the use of armed force and undertake to settle their differences through consultation and peaceful negotiation," says the agreement, which was signed by key members of the rival Malaita Eagle Force and the Isatabu Freedom Movement as well as Solomons Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace, Allan Kemakeza. It provides for the return of all property stolen during the conflict, which saw close to 20,000 Malaitans expelled at gunpoint from the island of Guadalcanal and left an estimated 100 dead.
GUADALCANAL LEADERS CAUTIOUS ON PEACE TALKS MUNDA, Solomon Islands (WP): Guadalcanal militants and provincial government leaders say peace talks and signed agreements will not resolve the ethnic conflict in the Solomons if criminals ignore them. The 40-member joint delegation from the Guadalcanal province, community and IFM leader were flown to Australia to hold peace talks with ethnic Malaitan leaders and militia, the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF). Talks since concluded `successfully'. Speaking before the flight yesterday morning, Guadalcanal Premier Ezekiel Alebua said the four-day talks would only be meaningful if the terms and conditions of any agreement are acceptable by the militia. "Talking and signing of agreements will not resolve the ethnic conflict on Guadalcanal. "What really matter now is both ethnic militia should discuss, accept and respect each others desire, culture, traditional values and land rights as the pre-requisite for long lasting peace. "The four major issues that are high in our agenda are land, compensation for damaged properties, the future of the militant group (IFM) and the issue of state government," Alebua said. IFM spokesman for East Guadalcanal, Hendry Tobani equally expressed that there were lots and lots of issues that needs proper analysis this time around after the first round of negotiation between both ethnic militia. "One of the issues that the Guadalcanal militia has put as a priority in its agenda for renegotiate was the area of influence now taken control of by the MEF. The area of control now under the jurisdiction of the MEF stretches from Bonage in West Guadalcanal to Ngalibiu river in East Guadalcanal. This area is where the industrial activities of the country are located, including the national capital, Honiara. "Our decision to give up the area of influence is a major loss for us but thatıs how we prepare to sacrifice in order for us to reach this far in our peace-negotiation. He said: "One of the issues that is among the non-negotiable items in our agenda is the issue of reclaiming customary land on Guadalcanal island. Tobani said the IFM has now prepared to negotiate the issue of "State government" with the Solomon Islands government and MEF as one of the prerequisites for restoring normality and peace to the country. IFM spokesman for West Guadalcanal island Francis Orodani said the issue of land rights and customary ownership was a non-negotiable issue..
GUADALCANAL WARLORD REFUSES TO ACCEPT PEACE GIZO, Western Solomons (WP): The commander of the Guadalcanal Liberation Front (GLF), "general" Harold Keke, has warned that his group will not honour any agreement coming out of the peace negotiations underway in Townsville, Australia. "There will never be peace in the Solomon Islands unless Australia and New Zealand stop providing funds to the Solomon Islands government and Malaita Eagle Force (MEF)," said Keke in an exclusive interview through a mobile Satellite telephone yesterday. "I consider people who attend the peace-negotiation in Australia as disrespect to us." Keke called on Australia, New Zealand and the international community to place sanctions against the Solomon Islands if they strongly believed in true democratic principles. Since the coup on June 5, which resulted in the MEF effectively taking control of the government and police force, Australia and New Zealand had been facilitating peace talks between the two warring groups. Instead, Keke appealed to Australia and New Zealand, to stop providing financial assistance to the national government because it was only perpetuating the MEF control and killing of innocent Guadalcanalese. He warned that the GLF militia would continue to defy any peace agreement if the expectations of Guadalcanal people were not met. The GLF general, who sparked the current conflict in late 1997 by chasing away ethnic Malaitan settlers on West Guadalcanal, reaffirmed his seriousness about the warning. Keke, who has a strong following in West Guadalcanal Islands, recently hijacked a Solomon Airlines nine-seater plan and demanded SID$2 million for its release. The plane is still under his control at his stronghold in south-west Guadalcanal. He said his decision not to attend the peace talks in Australia had been forced by a number of factors - especially what he alleged as Solomon Islands government collaboration with MEF. Keke said the government had "deceived" him by promising that if he signed the pre-ceasefire agreement in July, within seven days a foreign force would come to disarm MEF members. He said the MEF was still in control of Honiara and its armed members had continued to harass people and place blockades on roads to all parts of Guadalcanal. "We have seen that the government has been controlled by the commander of the Malaita Eagle Force, Andrew Nori. "Since day one of the coup, Andrew Nori has been dictating almost every government decisions that really worked against us ? the people of Guadalcanal." The Guadalcanal militia had realised that the government was only needing their signatures as a way of getting access to foreign funding to meet the MEF demands. An example of such control was reflected in the way the government disbursed displacement and repatriation money to the MEF and IFM. He said each member of the MEF received SID$1000 and free transportation back to Malaita Province, while the 10,000 members of the Gualdalcanal militants were paid SID$20 each. Additionally, the government paid SID$6.8 million to the MEF as a compensation package for various demands, but failed to pay the IFM counter claim of SIB$5 million. Australian Deputy High Commissioner in Honiara Peter McCready yesterday said his government was not aware of any arrangement by the Solomons and its development partners to bring in foreign forces for the task of disarmament. He declined to make any further comment about the appeal by Keke for Australia to cease financial assistance to the Solomons government. * NOTE: The GLF was the first name used by the Guadalcanal militants before they changed to Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army (GRA) and now Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM). . Fiji-Indian or Indo-Fijian? SUVA: The Fiji Consumer Association has called on the four Indo-Fijian members of the Constitution Review Commission to resign from the committee immediately, the Daily Post reports. Association president Hida Hussain said the four - social worker Benjamin Bhagwan, business consultant Joe Singh, retired civil servant Fred Achari and lawyer Joseph Maharaj - did not represent the Indian community. "The committee must be made up of members of all sections of society and, more importantly Indians, since they comprise about 46 per cent of the total population," Hussain said. "It is very sad to note that they all belong to the Christian faith and there are no representatives at all selected from other organisations," he said. "We request them to do the honourable thing by resigning immediately from the review committee," he said. "The association is of the view that Indians in Fiji constitute divergent religious beliefs, cultural identities, economic standards, education level and lots of other differences and with that in mind, it makes it very important for the interim administration to appoint true representatives of those different identities than those already appointed. "The other point the association wishes to raise relates to whether there is a need to review the constitution. Several experts in the field, including those who laboured to produce this document in 1997, have clearly said that this is the best constitution for Fiji. "It is internationally recognised by the world community and is hailed as the best type of guideline for multicultural and multiracial communities like we have here in Fiji. "The association implores the interim administration to disband the review committee as soon as possible and restore the 1997 constitution," he said. GOVERNMENT PLANNING TO REDUCE PNGDF SIZE PORT MORESBY The Papua New Guinea Government will seriously consider reducing the size of the PNG Defence Force, Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta told Parliament yesterday, the National reports. "My view is that the culture of instability in the Defence Force is internalised and is a very serious problem," Sir Mekere said. "Can we afford it? Those are the kinds of questions that we will have to address in the coming months. "Otherwise we are sitting on a simmering time bomb which may explode in future." Later, in the afternoon the National Executive Council met and endorsed an interim report of the officials committee appointed by the Ministerial Task Force on Defence which is looking at ways of solving the problems in the Defence Force and the Department of Defence, and rebuilding both. "It is imperative that we have a Defence Force that is willing and able to look after our national security interests," Sir Mekere said in a statement last night announcing the NEC endorsement. "At the moment, from our initial investigations, it does not have that capacity. So we must look at it very closely, with an open mind and with the best advice available, to see how we can provide protection for the nation that is within our capacity. "What we are seeing in the Defence Force and the Defence Department today are the signs of institutional breakdown that has arisen because of years of neglect and mismanagement. "This Government will not walk away from these problems. We will address them head-on and arrive at solutions that are in the national interest." Most of yesterday's Question Time in Parliament was taken up by questions directed at Sir Mekere and Defence Minister Muki Taranupi on the recent soldiers' unrest in Port Moresby and Moem to food shortages for security forces on Bougainville and the progress on the current review of the Defence Force. Sir Mekere said in reply to questions from Ambunti-Drekikir MP Judah Akesim on the Moem rampage: "We have to take a serious look at the size and structure of the Defence Force, the size and structure of the air element, the navy. "Can we have a mixture that is geared towards cost cutting and maximum benefit to the country?" He said he met with his Australian counterpart John Howard in Sydney last week and discussed, among others, the future of the Defence Force. He plans to make major statement on the PNGDF in Parliament next week, he added. Minister Taranupi, in reply to questions from Central Bougainville MP Sam Akoitai, admitted that soldiers were on only one meal a day in Bougainville, that being dinner because the K2 million Bougainville operations funds ran out in June this year. Taranupi said money was being taken from other Defence votes to feed the soldiers while villagers were also helping by supplying local garden produce. Former Defence Force Commander and Central Regional MP Ted Diro in a supplementary question said that in any organisation where there was instability, the fault must be within from the command structure. Diro said the current Defence Force commander was the cause of some of the problems and should be excluded from any review which should preferably be done by a parliamentary committee or an independent outside organisation. Moresby Northeast MP and former police commander Philip Taku offered to help the troops on Bougainville with the discretionary component of his Rural Development Fund and asked Rural Development Minister William Ebenosi for permission to do so. Wisdom for police Have our police officers ever heard of the word bijak (wisdom)? You wouldn't think so from the way they mishandled the unrest in the hill town of Wamena in Irian Jaya. While we have yet to hear the full story of how the latest outbreak of violence in Wamena began, the scant details give an all too familiar picture of another poorly executed job by our security apparatus. The weekend unrest in Wamena started on Friday when police began to forcefully remove Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flags of the separatist Irian Jaya movement from the streets and buildings in the town. This action offended many local people who then resisted the police's actions. Clashes were inevitable as were casualties, and two civilians were killed. Outraged by the incident, the Wamena people went on a rampage on Saturday, venting their anger at non-Papuan migrants. In all, at least 30 people were reported dead by Saturday. The police in their defense could give all the excuses they could find in their textbook, but surely the incident would have been avoided if they had exercised greater wisdom -- a word which seems to be missing from the police vocabulary -- in handling the case. Sure the police were just doing their job and sure the officers were only enforcing the law which forbids the hoisting of flags on Indonesian soil other than the national red-and-white flag. But did they really have to use force? Haven't the government, the military and the police done enough damage in Irian Jaya -- or West Papua as the locals call their homeland -- these last 30 years with the excessive use of force? Have we not learned anything from our past mistakes and that violence begets even more violence. This kind of behavior sowed the hatred among many Papuans against the rulers in Jakarta. This kind of behavior by the military in the past has driven more and more people into the fold of the separatist movement. Can we blame Papuans now if they are endorsing the idea of an independent state, as strongly reflected by the Papuan Congress in Jayapura in June? The police, who have taken over the job of keeping security from the Army, have failed miserably. They have let the nation down. Instead of looking for poor excuses for a botched job, it would be wiser if the police leadership in Jakarta removed the chiefs most responsible for the operation and punish them accordingly. This would go a long way in containing the anger of the people in Wamena and the rest of Irian Jaya who are already deeply suspicious of Jakarta's intentions. The Bintang Kejora flag has been flying across most towns in Irian Jaya, not just in Wamena, these past few months. It was President Abdurrahman Wahid who gave his personal approval to supporters of the separatist movement to raise the flag on certain conditions, including that it must be hoisted side by side with the Indonesian national flag, and that its size must not be bigger than the national flag. One may accuse the President of showing too much tolerance to the separatist supporters, but he has exercised wisdom, knowing full well that outlawing the flag would have incited more rebellious activities and unnecessary casualties. Many Papuans in the past have died unnecessarily or have been sent to jail for raising the separatist flag. Given the prevailing psyche in Irian Jaya in May-June around the time of the Papuan Congress, the President was wise to allow the Papuans to raise their flag, even if it was against the law. In any case, the law should be repealed because no person should go to jail or even die simply for expressing their sentiments in a democracy. One would only wish that our law enforcement agents emulate the President and exercise greater wisdom now and then in the execution of their jobs. This country would probably be a better place to live for every one in every corner of the archipelago. SAMOA OPPOSITION LEADER WANTS MEDIA BAN LIFTED APIA, Samoa: Samoa's opposition leader, National Development Party Leader Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi, said the prime minister must formally lift the ban that prohibits him from appearing on government-owned media, Radio Australia's Pacific Beat reports. The ban has been lifted in practice. However, Efi said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele must follow court instructions and officially rescind the ban. Efi said although the government-owned media now were interviewing him regularly, reporters continued to give him a hard time. "We confront the government media reporters and it's more like a confrontation with Members of Parliament rather than a press conference with the Member of the Opposition and reporters. "It's quite okay to ask (tough) questions, but there's a difference between asking a question and taking on a fellow as if he were your parliamentary opponent," the opposition leader said. "But other than that we're getting access now to that which we didn't get before," he added. Efi acknowledged that the government press would like to have the freedom of private media, but government pressures make that unlikely. "This ban has been around for 15 years now," he said. "We need to work out some sort of (system) that is acceptable to everybody." FRENCH GOVERNMENT FUNDS JOURNALISTS TO COVER ARTS FESTIVAL IN NOUMEA SUVA: The French Government is funding a number of Pacific journalists to cover the 8th Festival of Arts in Noumea next week, Pacnews reports. At a signing ceremony in Suva today, new French High Commissioner Jean-Pierre Vidon said his country was pleased to be associated with the Pacific media in the coverage of the South Pacific Festival of Arts. "This festival generates much interest in and outside the Pacific, attracting major international media. But one has to realise that coverage for a world audience and local coverage are indeed two different things. The overall result is a wider communication through the whole Pacific," Vidon said. Vidon said he would like to see an increasing flow of news exchange between the English-speaking Pacific Island countries and the French-speaking territories of New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna. "It is very encouraging to witness ten months later that the Oceania Flash email news service at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community's (SPC) Media Centre produces on a very regular basis in English about the French territories." The French Government is funding Fiji Television's Richard Broadbridge, Pacnews journalist Matai Akauola and a three-member team from SPC's regional Media Centre. The 8th Festival of Arts in Noumea, New Caledonia, begins on October 23. It will be a gathering of more than 2500 artists, dancers and musicians from the Pacific. PlaNet is hosting a weeklong exhibiton and Internet online access at CitiNet Cafe, lower Queen St, Auckland. Artists are welcome to contribute, email to office@pl.net .
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