16 Jul 2004

Anglican leader to pray over Solomons brothers' graves.

5:14 pm on 16 July 2004

The leader of the 70-million-strong Anglican church will visit Solomon Islands next week.

Doctor Rowan Williams is to visit the graves of seven Melanesian Brothers killed last year during unrest on the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal.

Two militants allied to the former warlord Harold Keke are awaiting trial for their alleged murders.

Doctor Williams is set to arrive on Monday and he'll tour six of the eight Anglican dioceses in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

The Archbishop will visit the graves at Tabalia in West Guadalcanal next Thursday.

Doctor Williams describes the commitment of Solomon Islanders to the work of reconciliation as an "example of the light of Christ shining in the darkness."

The church says it has 2-hundred and 50-thousand members in the two countries.

It will be the first visit of an Archbishop of Canterbury to Vanuatu.

The last visit paid by an Archbishop of Canterbury to Solomon Islands was in 1977.