AP Photo HON117
By RAY LILLEY
Associated Press Writer
HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) - The new prime minister of the Solomon Islands on Friday ruled out resigning to ease political tensions in his riot-scarred country, as Australia and New Zealand said they were doubling the number of troops sent to their South Pacific neighbor.
Snyder Rini, whose election as prime minister sparked the worst rioting to hit the capital of Honiara in years, said he was confident of beating a parliamentary vote next week aimed at unseating him.
``I was elected through a democratic process and according to the country's constitution,'' Rini told reporters, adding he would not step down.
Rini also accused opponents of threatening two of his supporters in Parliament to make them vote against him next week.
``The two MPs have been threatened, they are not going to the other side. They are staying with us, the motion will be defeated,'' Rini said after naming a 21-member Cabinet.
He angrily denied protesters' accusations that he rose to power through corruption.
``I would like to challenge those who make these allegations, to take them to the police,'' said Rini, who was secretly sworn in on Thursday by the head of state, Governor General Sir Nathaniel Waena, in a ceremony later made public on the government-run radio network.
Rioters looted and torched nearly all of Honiara's Chinatown during two days of unrest that started Tuesday, while a rock-hurling mob injured some 20 foreign police officers on peacekeeping duty. Rioters accused wealthy Chinese businessmen of helping finance Rini's rise to power, a claim the prime minister and Chinese deny.
Some 400 Chinese took shelter Friday at a police club in Honiara where local Red Cross workers gave them food. Some were left homeless by the rioting, while others were too scared to go home.
``We're even afraid to go back to our residence because they have threatened to burn down our house. That is why we are all here,'' said Ailee Tay, a 34-year-old cafe worker at the shelter with her 2-year-old son.
China demanded Thursday that the Solomon Islands government protect Chinese citizens and their property.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his country would double the 110 troops it has in Honiara to deter more rioting.
``It is far more desirable to deter troublemakers in a situation like this than to fight a pitched battle,'' Howard told the Southern Cross Broadcasting radio network. ``If they think there is overwhelming force, they won't try trouble in the first place.''
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also boosted troop numbers, sending another 53 soldiers, on top of 25 dispatched Thursday.
Australian and New Zealand troops and police patrolled streets and manned roadblocks in Honiara on Friday as workers began returning to their offices. Residents started cleaning up razed neighborhoods.
The Solomon Islands has no military, but the presence of heavily armed foreign troops quickly reined in the unrest.
The Solomons' police commissioner, Shane Castles, said 22 people were arrested overnight for looting and breaking a dawn-to-dusk curfew. He said police did not expect more violence.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he would meet Rini in Honiara on Saturday and urge him to take ``crucial measures to improve good governance, address corruption and work towards economic prosperity for Solomon Islands.''
The Solomon Islands are an impoverished archipelago of nearly a half million people located about 1,900 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.