Solomon Islands Premier Reportedly Seized by Rebels
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The prime minister of the Solomon Islands was taken hostage, and armed rebels put up roadblocks in the capital, Honiara, New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said today.
Ministry spokesman Brad Pattersfield said insurgents from the country’s Malaita Eagle Force militia were holding Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa’alu hostage. He spoke after talking by satellite telephone with New Zealand’s High Commission in Honiara.
The Isatabu Freedom Movement and the Malaita Eagle Force have been fighting each other for 18 months on the Solomons’ main island, Guadalcanal, where Honiara is located.
The Isatabu force is trying to push thousands of migrants from the nearby island of Malaita off Guadalcanal.
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