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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Missionaries Evacuated From Solomon Islands Following Coup Attempt
(Missionaries evacuate)
Deseret News 11Jun00 N1
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA -- The eight LDS missionaries serving in the Solomon
Islands have been evacuated to Brisbane, Australia, according to a press
release issued by the LDS Church on Saturday. The six young men and senior
couple were evacuated by ship along with the Australian citizens in the area.
The evacuation was prompted by a coup attempt in the Solomon Islands'
capital, Honoria on June 5th. A militia called the Malaita Eagle Force
kidnapped Bartholomew Ulufa'alu, the Solomon Islands' prime minister, in a
move that seems to copy the recent coup attempt in Fiji, which also led the
Church to evacuate missionaries, but in that case only to the other side of
the island.
In both cases, the coup attempts were sparked by ethnic unrest. In Fiji, the
coup was by a native Fijiian against the elected government, composed
primarily of immigrant Indians. In the Solomon Islands, the trouble is
between the Isatabu Freedom Movement, a group claiming to represent the
people native to the island of Guadalcanal, and the Malaitans, who came to
Guadalcanal with U.S. Forces in World War II and now comprise about 30% of
the population.
See also:
The gathering storm in the South Pacific
The Economist 11Jun00
http://www.economist.com/2LgAiM1p/editorial/freeforall/current/index_as8896.html
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