On 5 June 2000, a coup d'état occurred in Solomon Islands, in the capital of Honiara, in which the prime minister, Bartholomew Ulufa’alu, was taken hostage by militants of the Malaita Eagle Force.

[1] From as early as 1870, the people of the Solomon Islands archipelago were captured and exploited for slave labour in the sugar plantations of Queensland and Fiji.

[1][4] Ulufa’alu’s restructuring of the civil service, including cutting more than five hundred jobs, gained him support from foreign banks.

[5] This event lead to a meeting with the Western members of National Parliament in Honiara, where attendees publicly apologised for Base’s statements, out of fear it would result in an escalation of fighting.

The Ulufa’alu government during this period limited press reporting and freedom of association, and granted more power to the police force.

The Accord was brokered by the Commonwealth Special Envoy, Sitiveni Rabuka, and was signed by members of the National and Provincial Governments and the Opposition.

It stated that the Western Province wanted: In late 1998, the Isatabu Freedom Movement was established and started a campaign of threats against Malaitan migrants in Guadalcanal.

[7] Confusion spread as to who was behind the attacks, and whether it was in fact the Black Shark group from Bougainvlle or an impersonator, and police were dispatched to largely populated areas across the island.

[10] The Malaita Eagle Force at this time, started an offensive against the Isatabu Freedom Movement, driving the road blocks further from the city.

[7] The capitol, Honiara, where most of the fighting and coup d’etat took place, lost a lot of workers because of the violence and Malaitan migration back to Malaita.

Due to Isatabu Freedom Movement raids on Guadalcanal’s mine, Gold Ridge, it closed down, losing a major contributor to foreign money.

[7] As well as the mine, logging exports fell by thirteen percent in 2000, because of the roadblocks set up by the Malaita Eagle Force and Isatabu Freedom Movement.

[7] As well as the domestic economy, the nation was unable to trade internationally for the likes of oil and gas due to insufficient funds at the Central Bank.

[11] Members, leaders, police and civilian advisors that were associated with the Malaita Eagle Force and the Isatabu Freedom Movement who participated in military operations during the course of the ethnic crisis, up until October 15 were granted amnesty.

[11] Following the Townsville Peace Agreement in October 2000, the Solomon Islands government held a conference in Buala in November that was attended by the nation’s Premiers.

[7] They arrived to oversee the disarmament process after the coup d’etat, in which the Malaita Eagle Force and Isatabu Freedom Movement were ordered to hand back stolen weaponry, in accordance with the Townsville Peace Talks.