|
'Sheriff' Australia under fire
13/09/2006 22:20 - (SA)
Sydney - Australia says it is not the sheriff of the South Pacific, but complaints over a rebel jailbreak in East Timor and riots in the Solomon Islands are putting its new activist foreign policy to the test.
In both countries Australia has troops or police on the ground in a peacekeeping role, and in both cases it has been blamed for failures that plunged them deeper into crisis.
Prime Minister John Howard has reacted angrily to the charges, but analysts said on Wednesday he should expect increasing criticism as he follows through with the "Howard doctrine" of greater intervention in the region.
'Cop the flak'
"This is part of growing up in foreign policy terms and you've got to cop the flak sometimes, that's just one of the costs," said University of Sydney security analyst Alan Dupont.
"One of the problems in taking a more active approach under the so-called Howard doctrine is we are going to suffer the consequences every time something goes wrong in one of these states and it's difficult to get any kudos," he told AFP.
Australia's responsibility
Howard has made it clear that he believes Australia, as the most powerful country in a region of tiny and impoverished island nations, has a responsibility to help them maintain stability.
He announced last month that the army would be boosted by 2 600 troops and the federal police force by 400 to cope with increasing international deployments.
But he rejected suggestions that he aspired to be the region's sheriff.
"Can I just place on the record my rejection of the proposition that Australia has become the sheriff of the Pacific," he told reporters.
Solomon Islands
On Wednesday, however, a clearly annoyed Howard said he would not accept Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's expulsion of Canberra's high commissioner over an inquiry into rioting and for meddling in internal politics.
"We don't accept for a moment the expulsion of our high commissioner Patrick Cole," Howard told national radio, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown.
"He was doing the right thing, he was representing the interests of Australia, he was concerned about corruption in the Solomon Islands," he said.
East Timorese jailbreak
Australia was also blamed by the East Timorese Prime Minister Ramos Horta for a jailbreak last month which saw rebel military officer Alfredo Reinado walk out of prison with 56 others.
Howard and foreign minister Alexander Downer strenuously denied the charge, saying responsibility for prison security was in the hands of the East Timorese.
- AFP
|
News
