16 Aug 2010

Solomons political leader says RAMSI needs to reveal more about killing

3:45 pm on 16 August 2010

The leader of the Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement says it must be established who gave the order for Regional Assistance Mission officers to kill a local man last week.

Two soldiers attached to RAMSI allegedly shot dead a man from Titinge village on Honiara's outskirts after villagers threw rocks at them during a riot early on Thursday morning.

Gordon Darcy Lilo fears that the reconciliation ceremony held the next day between RAMSI and the village may indicate a move by police to brush the incident aside.

He says some serious questions need to be answered.

"Who gave the order for that officer to pull the trigger? That is a very serious one... serious in the sense that here you are using state military apparatus, a weapon, against an ordinary citizen in the cause of a normal civil disobedience or unrest."

Meanwhile, Gordon Darcy Lilo says negotiations are ongoing over the formation of a coalition government following the recent election.