Howard hints at Pacific force

Howard hints at Pacific force

Peter O'Connor, Associated Press, Canberra

Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday hinted at the creation of a Pacific police force to improve security in the region, which is seen as a possible haven for arms dealers, people smugglers and terrorists.

Howard, en route to New Zealand for a 16-nation summit of Pacific states, will present a A$15 million (US$9.75 million) plan to train about 200 police a year to help combat lawlessness.

The plan is part of a wider proposal on economic and political cooperation in the region.

"Clearly these small countries don't have the capacity to train their own police," Howard told Sky News Television. Asked if the goal was to eventually establish a Pacific police force, Howard said: "Well, one thing can lead to another."

In recent months Australia has signaled it wants to take a more assertive role in the affairs of its tiny -- and often politically unstable and economically bankrupt -- Pacific neighbors. A 2,300-strong Australian-led intervention force is now in the Solomon Islands to help restore law and order.

Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer have said they fear terrorists and international drug and people smuggling gangs could exploit instability and poverty in the region.

Australia is the main economic and military power in the southwest Pacific which is dotted with mostly impoverished island states.

Leaders at the forum are expected to back the police training plan. According to the proposal, the training will take place in the Fijian capital of Suva.

Fiji Foreign Minister Kaliopate Tavola said on Tuesday his government had supported the regional training plan when it was first raised by Downer.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Noel Levi told officials at a meeting ahead of the summit that the region can no longer rely on isolation to protect it from terrorism.

Howard said another area of cooperation is a regional airline.

"It's unrealistic for countries with populations of one or two hundred thousand to think they can effectively maintain an airline," he said. "There may be more sense in trying to build some kind of regional carrier."