Six missionaries taken hostage by a Solomon Islands warlord are all dead, according to the Australian diplomat leading the multinational peacekeeping force there. Nick Warner said he was told of the deaths during a meeting with the notorious rebel leader Harold Keke on the island of Guadalcanal. But he also said that Mr Keke had promised to surrender his weapons to the peacekeepers within a week, and agreed to allow the intervention force to open a police post near his stronghold.
| Ummm... Was there maybe something in there about hanging Harold Keke? |
Mr Warner gave no details of how or when the missionaries had died. The six hostages were members of an indigenous Anglican order called the Melanesian Brotherhood. They had been held by Harold Keke for several months in his hideout in the remote Weathercoast region, and at one stage were shown on Australian television smiling and sharing a meal with the rebel leader. In July three of their colleagues were released on the eve of the arrival of the intervention force. The multinational intervention force of about 2,000 troops arrived in the Solomons on 24 July, to try to restore stability to the Pacific nation and end the rampant corruption. Mr Keke is one of the chief reasons for their intervention. |