SYDNEY, June 30: South Pacific nations on Monday unanimously backed plans to send a 2,000-strong Australian-led force into the lawless and near-bankrupt Solomon Islands, the largest military deployment in the region since World War Two.

Officials from the 16 Pacific Islands Forum nations said the collapse of law and order in the former British protectorate after years of ethnic violence called for a “concerted regional response”, and many offered to provide police or troops.

Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Laurie Chan said his embattled country was delighted with the decision by his Pacific neighbours to back its request for police supported by armed peacekeepers, and a possible 10-year “nation-building” programme.

“I think...we finally have an opportunity to feel safe, an opportunity to get back to normal,” Chan told reporters after the islands forum meeting in Sydney.

Australia and New Zealand plan to lead the force to take over policing and parts of government in the country of 450,000 people 1,800 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Australia.

Hundreds have been killed in recent years in ethnic clashes between Guadalcanal and Malaita islanders fighting over land disputes near the capital Honiara, which began its existence as a U.S. military base in World War Two.—Reuters