Word: honiara
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...welcome consequences of the regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI)-three years on the ground and counting-is how the presence of foreigners has opened local eyes to the shameful inadequacy of Honiara's politicians. The nominal Big Men who hop on and off the capital's political merry-go-round cannot deliver for their own communities nor for the nation as a whole. Unlike, for instance, a judge from Suva, a Canberra auditor, a Nuka'alofa constable or a Wellington diplomat-all the quiet, efficient public servants from around the region who have volunteered to help a troubled...
...Solomon Islands, was declared persona non grata by the government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Sept. 12. Sogavare's charge was that Cole was interfering in local politics and too frequently consulting opposition politicians. Canberra had argued strongly against a proposed inquiry into this year's riots in Honiara. Two M.P.s aligned with the government are in jail facing charges relating to the violence, which razed Chinatown. According to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Cole's expulsion was outrageous; he smells a rat. "The real motive of the commission of inquiry," he said, "is to ease the pressure...
...time police and troop reinforcements arrived from Australia to bolster the Regional Assistance Mission that has been providing security in the Solomons since 2003, most of Honiara's shopping hub had been razed, nine police cars burned and 32 Australian officers injured. Hundreds of ethnic Chinese, the mainstay of the limping economy, fled the country...
...reports that Rini had bought M.P.s' votes with money from Asian business backers. Rini has denied the allegations, but claims of bribery and corruption - which were also leveled at his predecessor, Sir Allan Kemakeza - swirl constantly on the Solomons' "coconut wireless." Police investigating the riots on Sunday arrested Central Honiara M.P. Nelson Ne'e for intimidation and issued a warrant for the arrest of East Honiara M.P. Charles Dausabea on similar charges...
...Honiara remains under lockdown, with a night curfew and a ban on the sale of alcohol. As well as rushing in 220 extra soldiers and 70 police, Australia has dispatched two Navy patrol boats, two Army Iroquois helicopters and a platoon of airfield-defense guards. Together with reinforcements from Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, they are being kept on alert in case further violence breaks out when Parliament meets this week...