Traditional dancers greet the soldiers as they arrive on a mission to restore order
Bare-footed warriors dressed in grass skirts and coconut fibre headdresses welcomed the arrival of an Australian-led intervention force yesterday at the start of an open-ended mission to restore law and order to the strife-torn Solomon Islands.
Whooping, dancing and wielding wooden spears, the islanders greeted the Australian head of the force, special co-ordinator Nick Warner, as he arrived at the country's main airport beneath a heavy tropical downpour.
A brass band played and a guard of honour was provided by a detachment of 30 Royal Solomons Islands Police, neatly dressed in blue shirts and maroon berets.
About 500 Australian soldiers and police officers landed throughout the day at the airport, outside the capital, Honiara, flying in from their base in Townsville, Queensland.
A further 300 military personnel arrived on board an Australian Navy command ship, HMAS Manoora, after a four-day passage from Townsville.
