Australians to deploy police to Papua New Guinea

Australians to deploy police to Papua New Guinea

Neil Sands, Agence France-Presse, Sydney, Australia

Australia announced plans to send hundreds of police to restore
order in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Thursday but denied
interfering in the internal affairs of its troubled former
colony.

Prime Minister John Howard hinted Canberra's A$300 million
(US$198 million) a year aid package would be cut if PNG resisted
the policing plan, comments likely to further inflame Port
Moresby officials already bristling at Australia's criticism of
widespread corruption.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer met PNG Prime Minister
Michael Somare on Thursday to outline Canberra's new hands-on
approach to dealing with lawlessness and corruption in PNG.

The pair signed a pact that paves the way for Australia to
increase its role in the Pacific nation, including the deployment
of hundreds of police.

Downer said reports estimating 200 Australian Federal Police
would be deployed were probably conservative.

"When you start to think that if we were to provide people to
help in everything from technical assistance to training to
forensics, perhaps out on the provincial centers assisting with
policing there, 200 could be quite a low number," Downer told
reporters.

"Two hundred doesn't stretch so far when you stop and think
about it."

He said Australian police would be in Port Moresby "as soon as
possible", most likely by January.

The initiative comes after Australia led a 2,000-strong force
into the Solomon Islands in July to restore order, fearing
failing states in the region could become havens for terrorists
and international gangsters.

PNG was described as on the brink of anarchy by Mike Manning
of the Port Moresby-based Institute of National Affairs earlier
this year.

He described a country where living standards were falling,
despite vast natural resources, due to entrenched corruption and
mismanagement.

The capital, Port Moresby, is regularly ranked as one of the
world's most dangerous cities, where armed gangs contribute to
runaway violent crime, forcing expatriates to live in razor-wire
compounds.

Howard said the policing plan was a case of Australia helping
its former colony, which celebrated 28 years of independence this
week.

"When you help people, you're not interfering," Howard said.

Howard repeated his position that Australian aid was dependent
on improvements in governance and financial accountability.

"That policy is well known, it's a prudent policy and I'm sure
that we can work our way through these things with our friends in
Port Moresby," he said.

Under the deal, Australia is expected to send in "flying
squads" of auditors and administrators to stabilize the PNG
budget and ensure aid gets to the people who most need it.

The opposition warned Australia against overstretching its
police force, pointing out PNG, with a population of five million
-- 10 times that of the Solomons -- would be a far larger
challenge than the mission to Solomons.

"When it comes to taking on another regional security
responsibility, a wise course of action would be to wait a bit,
bed the Solomon Islands down first and then see what's possible
to do in PNG," opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd
said.

Somare, who led PNG to independence in 1975, was initially so
incensed about Australian criticism of corruption that he
withdrew Downer's invitation to the talks in Port Moresby before
relenting last week.

Rudd urged Downer, who on Wednesday said PNG was lucky to have
a neighbor like Australia, to be more diplomatic in his relations
with Port Moresby officials.

"At the end of the day, Australia still has to have a good
relationship with PNG, our nearest neighbor," he said.

Downer denied Australia was taking a heavy-handed approach.

"We put forward proposals, they agree -- no one is telling
anyone what they have to do," he said.