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Gun amnesty in Solomons - and this one's serious (21 day to give up your gun or 10 years in prison)
Sydney Morning Herald ^ | August 1 2003 | Craig Skehan

Posted on 07/31/2003 8:27:43 AM PDT by dead

A 21-day amnesty for the handing in of illegal firearms in the Solomon Islands began at midnight last night and anybody who fails to do so on time - including government ministers - faces a 10-year prison sentence.

Several cabinet ministers are believed to hold weapons illegally, despite previous amnesties.

Past firearms amnesties have had very limited success, but there are hopes the planned dispatch in mid-August of about 100 additional police will persuade more people to surrender weapons.

Ben McDevitt, a senior Australian Federal Police officer, said the extra officers would have special training and technical back-up to track down weapons.

Weapons outstanding include many stolen from police armouries or provided to ethnic militia groups by sympathetic police.

Yesterday the Australian Foreign Minister was given a traditional welcome to Honiara by seven warriors with spears and shields from the island of Isabel. Alexander Downer and his New Zealand counterpart, Phil Goff, are on a 24-hour visit to discuss the operations of the Australian-led intervention force that was deployed on July 24.

Mr Downer said the intervention, which involves more than 1500 personnel, had started well but there was a long way to go.

"This is not a time for premature exuberance," he said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 07/31/2003 8:27:44 AM PDT by dead
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To: dead
Ben McDevitt, a senior Australian Federal Police officer, said the extra officers would have special training and technical back-up to track down weapons.

Hmmm... I'd sure love to know just what sort of "technical back-up" is being employed there.

2 posted on 07/31/2003 8:31:41 AM PDT by Charles Martel
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To: Charles Martel
So the Australians have taken over the Solomons and are going to disarm the political opposition.
3 posted on 07/31/2003 8:36:06 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: dead
.


A Righeous Government
Need Not Fear
An Armed Population.



.
4 posted on 07/31/2003 8:38:25 AM PDT by vannrox (The Preamble to the Bill of Rights - without it, our Bill of Rights is meaningless!)
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To: dead
It is time in the Solomons to water the tree of liberty, again.
5 posted on 07/31/2003 8:40:36 AM PDT by RISU
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To: dead
Isn't that where headhunting was very popular once? Perhaps they need to....?
6 posted on 07/31/2003 8:46:06 AM PDT by Lee Heggy (Jealousy-The theory that some other fellow has just as little taste.)
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To: Lee Heggy
looks like the whole place is basically running lawless


Solomon Islanders hope to return home

Monday, July 28, 2003 (Honiara):


The displaced people of the Solomon Islands are pinning their hopes on Australian troops and police for return to their villages.

Around 1,300 people from 16 villages, whose homes have been destroyed by warlord Harold Keke and up to 100 thugs from his private militia, are living in squalid displacement camps, one of which is at Tintinge, 10 kilometres west of the capital Honiara.

These people have new hope now that the Australian-led intervention force of 2,000 troops and 300 police which arrived last Thursday will hunt down Keke and other militants, allowing them to return and rebuild their villages.

The force also includes troops from New Zealand and the neighboring Pacific island states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. It was invited last month by the beleaguered Solomon Islands government, which has lost control of the island nation to militants and warlords like Keke following years of ethnic tensions that erupted into violence in the late 1990s.

Endemic corruption among public officials and police left the government impotent to stop the nation from spiralling into violence and lawlessness. The international operation also includes long-term plans to rebuild the nation's government institutions, police force, criminal justice system and financial system.

The villagers in the camps think only of returning quickly to the places where they once lived.

Mark Widmore, the representative in Honiara of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the plight of the refugees is desperate.

Widmore said 1,300 displaced people seem a small number compared to the problems in many nations, particularly in Africa, but it is a major crisis for an island the size of Guadalcanal. (AP)



For the latest in news visit http://www.ndtv.com

7 posted on 07/31/2003 8:50:46 AM PDT by Pikamax
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To: dead
I heard this guy saying that every single gun in the country had to be surrendered.
8 posted on 07/31/2003 6:37:09 PM PDT by gd124
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