SYDNEY, July 9: The first of 2,000 Australian troops and police should be in the Solomon Islands by the end of the month, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday.

Their task is to restore law and order and bolster the authority of the elected government in Honiara by disarming militias and rooting out corrupt police officers. Downer said he expected the Solomons parliament to issue an invitation for the proposed intervention force by the end of this week.

The foreign minister dismissed criticism of the “coalition of the willing” to restore order in Solomons by former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare.

In the parliament Sogavare claimed Australia’s motive was “nothing short of recolonising this country”. Downer told reporters that “there’s been overwhelming support for Prime Minister Kemakeza’s invitation for Australia to intervene”.

Kemakeza appealed to Australia for help and last week the intervention was sanctioned by all 16 members of the South Pacific Islands Forum at a meeting in Sydney.—dpa