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| Looters Leave Streets of Solomon Islands Capital |
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A Solomon Islands government official said Thursday that looters have fled the streets after extra Australian and New Zealand troops arrived at the city Wednesday night. The rioting and looting were sparked by Tuesday's parliamentary vote which elected Snyder Rini as the South Pacific nation's new prime minister. Supporters of rival candidate, Job Dudley Tausinga, then took to the street of the capital, Honiara, claiming the vote was fixed. The violence is the worst unrest in Honiara since Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific governments intervened in 2003 to help end years of bloody ethnic gang conflict. Australia and New Zealand sent extra troops to the South Pacific country Wednesday. Johnson Honimae, a Solomons Islands government information officer in Honiara, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV that last time he saw any looting was Wednesday night, hours after the troops arrived. He said the troops have set up outposts in the city and have been instrumental in preventing further looting. "There are no more looters. The last time I saw them was last night," he said. "I think there's more of these troops now on the streets driving up and down. They are more visible now ... and I think they are setting themselves up within the town boundaries," he said. However, Honimae said he had no idea where the country's politicians were hiding, or when they would publicly confront the crisis. Honimae also said the capital had been devastated by the two days of rioting and looting, with city streets dominated by burned-down buildings and masses of rubbish.
(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2006) |
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