/ 18 November 2006

Foreign troops arrive in riot-torn Tonga

About 150 Australian and New Zealand soldiers and police arrived in Tonga on Saturday to boost security in the South Pacific island kingdom after violent riots in which eight people died.

Police said the streets of the capital, Nuku’alofa, remained fairly calm following Thursday’s riots although two more shops on the outskirts of the city had been set alight overnight. Most of the dead were believed to have been trapped in burning buildings.

”The situation is relatively calm and law and order seem to be restored,” police commander Sinilau Kolokihakaufisi told Reuters, adding that the central district remained closed to civilians.

Tonga declared a state of emergency and asked Australia and New Zealand for assistance on Friday after pro-democracy protesters destroyed most of the buildings in central Nuku’alofa.

Australia has already deployed troops and police to South Pacific trouble-spots including the Solomon Islands and East Timor.

It said the three naval ships sent to Fiji earlier this month in case its nationals needed to be evacuated during a recent coup threat would move to Tonga if required.

The New Zealand-led joint force would focus on providing security at Tonga’s Fau’amotu International airport as well as providing assistance for local police. Air New Zealand has cancelled its flights to Tonga until Sunday.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said late on Friday at a joint news conference with New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark that Australia was committed to maintaining stability in the region.

”Being the largest and wealthiest countries in the region, part of our responsibility is to help,” Howard said from Hanoi, where he is attending the Asia-Pacific summit.

The rioting began after Parliament went into recess for the year without voting on proposals for sweeping democratic reforms to Tonga’s semi-feudal system.

Late on Thursday, the government bowed to the protesters and agreed to new elections in 2008 in which a majority of the parliament would be directly elected by popular vote. At present, nobles and appointed MPs outnumber elected representatives.

New Zealand and Australia have condemned the violence and warned their nationals in Tonga to stay away from large gatherings.

Tonga, a group of 170 coral and volcanic islands about 2 000km north of New Zealand, saw unprecedented protests in May 2005, when 10 000 people — a tenth of the population — took to the streets demanding democracy and public ownership of key assets. — Reuters