Howard hints at Pacific force<\/p>\n
Peter O'Connor, Associated Press, Canberra<\/p>\n
Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday hinted at the creation of
\na Pacific police force to improve security in the region, which
\nis seen as a possible haven for arms dealers, people smugglers
\nand terrorists.<\/p>\n
Howard, en route to New Zealand for a 16-nation summit of
\nPacific states, will present a A$15 million (US$9.75 million)
\nplan to train about 200 police a year to help combat lawlessness.<\/p>\n
The plan is part of a wider proposal on economic and political
\ncooperation in the region.<\/p>\n
\"Clearly these small countries don't have the capacity to
\ntrain their own police,\" Howard told Sky News Television. Asked
\nif the goal was to eventually establish a Pacific police force,
\nHoward said: \"Well, one thing can lead to another.\"<\/p>\n
In recent months Australia has signaled it wants to take a
\nmore assertive role in the affairs of its tiny -- and often
\npolitically unstable and economically bankrupt -- Pacific
\nneighbors. A 2,300-strong Australian-led intervention force is
\nnow in the Solomon Islands to help restore law and order.<\/p>\n
Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer have said they
\nfear terrorists and international drug and people smuggling gangs
\ncould exploit instability and poverty in the region.<\/p>\n
Australia is the main economic and military power in the
\nsouthwest Pacific which is dotted with mostly impoverished island
\nstates.<\/p>\n
Leaders at the forum are expected to back the police training
\nplan. According to the proposal, the training will take place in
\nthe Fijian capital of Suva.<\/p>\n
Fiji Foreign Minister Kaliopate Tavola said on Tuesday his
\ngovernment had supported the regional training plan when it was
\nfirst raised by Downer.<\/p>\n
Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Noel Levi told
\nofficials at a meeting ahead of the summit that the region can no
\nlonger rely on isolation to protect it from terrorism.<\/p>\n
Howard said another area of cooperation is a regional airline.<\/p>\n
\"It's unrealistic for countries with populations of one or two
\nhundred thousand to think they can effectively maintain an
\nairline,\" he said. \"There may be more sense in trying to build
\nsome kind of regional carrier.\"<\/p>",
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