Frontman of islands gunmen 'no firebrand'

By BRONWYN SELL

The frontman for the group behind the Solomon Islands coup is lawyer and former Finance Minister Andrew Nori, but there are doubts whether he - or anyone - is in charge of the rebels.

Professor John Henderson, head of political science at Canterbury University, was surprised that Mr Nori had been named in some reports as the leader of the Malaita Eagle Force.

"He's not a George Speight. He's a pretty measured sort of lawyer, and an ex-MP who had been putting forward the Malaitans' case and legally represented their grievances.

"He's generally been a pretty responsible figure, from my reading of it lately."

His father was the leader of the postwar nationalist movement Maasina Rule, which fought colonialism.

Mr Nori is Malaitan and was educated in Papua New Guinea. He is a former president of the Solomon Islands bar association and heads a political party, the Nationalist Front for Progress.

A document from the office of the Prime Minister, Bartholomew Ulufa'alu, dated March 3, said: "Mr Andrew Nori, an ambitious ex-Minister of Finance and sympathiser of the crony system of government who have been vocal against the Government, has become the 'Alebua' of the Malaita Eagle Force cause, taking on the role of a promotions and public relations officer." ("Alebua" is a reference to Ezekiel Alebua, Premier of Guadalcanal province.)

Dr Hugh Laracy, senior lecturer in Pacific Islands history at Auckland University, said Mr Nori was articulate and had been a lawyer for over 20 years.

"We're not quite sure just who the fellow was who said: 'Let's go and take the show over. Let's give up this business of standing around roadblocks - let's go and do something more dramatic and drastic.'"

Professor Henderson said the Malaitan force was ill-disciplined and it would be hard for anyone to be in full command.

He added: "I suspect the police have played a pretty major role."

Amnesty International Pacific researcher Heinz Schurmann-Zeggel said in London that the leaders of the force were not widely known, but he doubted whether Mr Nori was at the helm.

In interviews with Australian journalists last week, Mr Nori was named as leader and warned of civil war.

"Law and order can no longer be upheld. In the end we will have a major confrontation ... so a civil war is not a remote possibility, in fact, it is a probability."