Subject: 'austraLasia' # 353

SOLOMONS UPDATE.

(Note - the author of this material is the Archbishop of Honiara, Adrian Smith SM. I got hold of it via the Marist Provincial in Suva. It is clearly an authoritative inside view of the situation. Readers might just need to respect that it is correspondence rather than reporting. I am providing it in the interests of informed opinion. Julian)

HONIARA: 6th and 7th June -- ARCHDIOCESE OF HONIARA

6th JUNE, 2000

5.00 p.m.

The calm of the morning dissipated at around 11 a.m. We got news that there was heavy gun fire in the region of the roadblock east of Honiara, Alligator Creek area. Fr Marcello Manimtim CM, Rector of our Seminary came through the roadblocks at 10.00 a.m., he experienced no problems.

He was in fact surprised how quiet the situation was. The IFM Militants said to him they intended to move their roadblock to the bridge at Alligator Creek. There had been until then a Police roadblock at the bridge, sandwiched between the IFM roadblock east of the bridge and the MEF roadblock west of the bridge. In the afternoon he was turned back by the MEF because of the tense situation. In the afternoon, news from the gold mine was bad. The gold mine is in the hills above the Tenaru area to the east. It seems the IFM have taken control. They stole many vehicles and explosives. It seems mine workers are in a kind of hostage situation.

There are quite a number of Australians working in the mine. Back in Honiara, we experienced electric power cuts from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Our water supply was also cut and not yet restored. In the early afternoon the overseas telephone lines were again open.

Because of the buildup of tension in the Alligator Creek area, the paramilitary and MEF in Honiara warned people in the town area to return to their homes. Telephone lines east of Honiara remain closed. Solomon Airlines, which grounded all its planes on Monday 5th, had a number of internal flights today. There were no overseas flights since Sunday 4th June.

The Prime Minister, escorted by armed members of the MEF, arrived at his office this morning to meet with members of his Government. This shows the lack of freedom he is experiencing. The situation continues to show signs of deterioration. The city water source at White River seems safe, it is defended by the joint paramilitary and MEF group.

7 JUNE 2000

9 p.m.

It has been a long day. At 7.40 a.m. I got a telephone call to tell me that Nazareth Apostolic Centre, which lies east of Alligator Creek was experiencing a rain of bullets being fired from a patrol boat about three kilometers away. The good news was that nobody has ben hit. The bullets were falling around the houses of the people living there. The battle between the MEF and IFM was in full force. The joint aramilitary and MEF had taken the patrol boat along the coast and were spraying the coast line with bullets.

At 10 a.m. we had a special meeting of Solomon Islands Christian Association (SICA), our National Council of Churches. It was a very frank meeting, SICA came under fire for its cumbersome methold of moving. I had prepared a draft statement for the meeting, Fr Norman Arkwright sm had an alternate draft and other notes prepared. The meeting did not have a quorum, we shared the information we had with each other. We agreed to meet again at 3 p.m. to work on a final draft Statement. The situation was the Prime Minister did not resign. The MEF were forced to withdraw their demand for his resignation. The Governor General will call a meeting of Parliament for 15th of June (date not certain) and then a motion of no confidence can be discussed. This helps to get things back on the constitutional track. Democracy will be allowed to take its course.

There were, during the past few days, very strong international condemnations and warnings of withdrawal of international aid. At 2 p.m. in the afternoon, I had a meeting with the indigenous sisters, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate. I was able to fill them in on the situation and challenge them to lead our Catholic women to seek means to give strong expression for their demand for peace. 3 p.m. SICA met again, it was a productive meeting. We came up with a good statement which speaks out a clear message and a challenging call to all concerned for peace. At last we had water in the late afternoon. There were no electric power cuts today. This evenings local news on Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) was both positive and negative. Positive, the Prime Minister spoke to the nation and continued to stand strong for the constitutions of the country and the democratic process. The Premier of Guadalcanal spoke in favour of the Government and the process of peace. He was strong in his condemnation of the joint paramilitary and MEF actions. Negative: The spokesman for the joint operation declared war on the IFM and spoke of their intention to drive further east the IFM tomorrow 8th June. We have no idea of the number of deaths which have resulted from the long shoot out between the Joint Paramilitary MEF with the IFM. I fear a large number of deaths on the side of the IFM.

Yours in Christ,

Adrian Smith, SM