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Australia Deeply Concerned by Solomon Islands Coup
Australia was deeply concerned by an apparent coup in the Solomon Islands, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Monday.
Downer said Solomons Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu had been taken at gunpoint by rebels but was now safe and no longer in detention.
"We are obviously very deeply concerned about what has taken place during the course of last night," Downer told reporters. "We understand that the governor-general and the prime minister are both safe," he said.
"This has happened after we have made a very substantial effort to try to stabilize the situation in the Solomon Islands and we will be continuing to do that," he said.
Downer said he understood that no hostages were being held by the Malaita Eagle Force rebels.
"The information that I have now is that the prime minister is able to move freely around as is the governor-general although they do have Malaita Eagle Force people with them," he said.
"But they are not being confined to any one particular location or held hostage," he said.
"But the leader of the Malaita Eagle Force, Andrew Nori, is simply insisting that the prime minister resign," Downer said. Downer said it was too early to make any judgments about what would happen.
"The prime minister himself has offered to resign last weekend so what his political fate will be now, we don't exactly know and that remains to be seen during the course of, presumably, today or tomorrow," Downer said.
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