HONIARA - The Solomon Islands secretly swore in new Prime Minister Snyder Rini on Thursday as Australian troops and police patrolled the country's blackened capital after two days of rioting sparked by his election.
Australia said it was committed to restoring law and order in the troubled South Pacific island chain to prevent it becoming a failed state and possible haven for terrorism.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said about 70 people had been arrested after the riots and looting, much of it targeted at Chinese-owned businesses and shops.
"We expect to have more arrests over the next 24 to 48 hours," he told AAP.
After an overnight curfew forced some rioters off the streets, those who ventured out wandered along dusty streets strewn with broken glass and debris as the smell of smoke hung in the humid air.
Dozens of blackened buildings smouldered, their tin roofs now warped and collapsed. Shops had doors and windows missing and were littered with refuse left by looters and obscene graffiti directed at Rini and the Australian-led peacekeeping police.
Burnt-out cars dotted dirt roads throughout Honiara, a town of 50,000, as armed troops stopped and checked vehicles.
"The town is not looking good now. The protesters have to stop burning the buildings," said taxi driver Kingsley Sam, driving through tight security at Honiara airport. "I think the prime minister should resign to stop the trouble."
Violence erupted on Tuesday after Rini was named as the new leader. Rioters claimed Rini's new government would be heavily influenced by local Chinese businessmen and Taiwan, which the Solomons recognises in place of mainland China.
But in a statement issued by the prime minister's office, interim government spokesman Edward Huniehu said Rini would only resign if a vote of no confidence was passed by parliament.
Rioters and looters targeted Honiara's Chinese population of a couple of thousand, destroying most of the Chinatown district.
Dozens of Chinese families abandoned their homes and are being cared for by the local Red Cross.
Some shop keepers managed to escape the protesters anger by painting on the walls of their buildings "locally owned shop".
"We're scared because we don't know when they're coming for us," said 32-year-old Sam Wong, who has lived in Honiara for 18 years, but fled his home with his family on Wednesday night to the Red Cross shelter set up inside the Solomon Islands police headquarters compound. "We didn't want to stay alone."
While Wong's home has not been damaged, many Chinese among the 400 gathered at the Red Cross shelter had lost everything, Solomon Islands Red Cross Deputy Secretary General Nancy Jolo said.
In a sign of its growing diplomatic clout, China had asked the Solomons to protect its nationals, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference in Beijing, and had arranged shelter for about 500 of its nationals.
The Solomons, a chain of 992 islands covering 1.35 million sq km (520,000 sq miles) of ocean, teetered on the brink of collapse in 2003 when armed gangs fought over Honiara.
Australia then led a South Pacific force to restore order, warning that failed states could become terrorist havens.
Australia, New Zealand and Fiji have committed an extra 250 troops to that peacekeeping force to back Canberra's interventionist policy.
"Failed states become the breeding grounds for all sorts of ideologies and attitudes and developments which can pose a threat to the stability of the whole region," Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will visit the Solomons on Saturday and will hold talks with Rini.
"We have more troops ready... if we need to send them in," Downer told Australian Sky Television. "It doesn't look as though we will need to do that but if things suddenly take a turn for the worse ... we can certainly send more troops in quickly."
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