The head of the Australian-led intervention force in Solomon Islands, Nick Warner, will fly to the province of Malaita today. He will meet with the leaders of the militia group that virtually controlled the capital for the past three years. Three founders of the Malaita force said they did not want to fight the intervention force. One of them, Jimmy Rasta, said they wanted to meet with Nick Warner on Malaita and that they would be prepared to give up their guns if he could grant them a 30-day gun amnesty.
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Mr Warner says he will be flying to Malaita tomorrow. "I think that we have set up a meeting with Jimmy Rasta and his colleagues for [Wednesday] and there will certainly be a meeting with the Premier, church leaders, community leaders and chief," he said. Mr Warner says he is still discussing the whole amnesty issue with the Solomon Islands government. |