NEWS > 15 January 2007

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Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney
15 January 2007

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Solomons mission upset by corr

THE Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, has warned that mismanagement and corruption in the Solomon Islands Government are undermining the effectiveness of Australia's $1 billion regional assistance mission to the nation.

"Either the Government is out and out corrupt or it is out and out incompetent," Mr Keelty said in an interview with the Herald amid deteriorating diplomatic relations. "It is very difficult for police organisations to operate under those conditions."

Mr Keelty said the line between poor governance and corruption was blurred. "Our aim has always been to get the police force to a point of efficiency so funding can then flow into health and education."

However, it was unfortunate that attention had been diverted through "spurious allegations" against Australian police and the "antics" of members of the Solomons Government.

The Solomons Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare - who came to power in a parliamentary no-confidence vote last year - has pressed for the removal of some key members of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, established in 2003 in the wake of ethnic bloodshed, a coup and endemic political and official corruption.

Last month the Australian Federal Police officer Shane Castles was banned from returning to the Solomons, after a holiday in Australia, to resume his role as police commissioner. It was alleged by the Sogavare Government that an agreement signed by a previous Solomons government, giving Mr Castles some legal immunities, was a breach of the country's sovereignty and constitution.

But on Friday Paul Jevtovic, the national manager of the federal police's International Deployment Group, said Mr Castles had only indemnity against civil proceedings related to his job and not against any criminal or personal civil actions.

Mr Keelty defended the Australian police's handling of riots in April last year and accused some members of the Sogavare Government of having a hand in orchestrating the strife.

"I am absolutely furious � our people put their lives on the line only to be accused now of not handling the riots properly. We know these riots were in fact orchestrated by members of the Solomon Islands Government for their own political purposes."

Two MPs aligned with Mr Sogavare have been charged with helping to incite the rioting and a senior Australian source said a serving minister is suspected of having played a role. There has been insufficient evidence to allow the minister to be charged.

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Article sourced from

Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney15 January 2007

Solomons mission upset by corr

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Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney
15 January 2007