Apr. 20, 2006 at 8:58AM
Much of the Chinese-dominated business district in the capital of the Solomon Islands was left gutted Thursday after political rioting shook Honiara.
Rampaging anti-Chinese gangs also burned the newly constructed Pacific Casino Hotel as Australian and New Zealand peacekeepers struggled to enforce a city-wide curfew, The Times of London reported. Local officials said 90 percent of the business district was destroyed.
The latest violence was sparked on Tuesday when members of Parliament voted in new Prime Minister Snyder Rini, who is considered to be closely aligned with the minority Chinese population.
The former British island chain colony in the Pacific is 1,777 miles northeast of Sydney, and its 500,000 residents are predominantly Melanese, but ethnic fighting has simmered for decades.
Both Australia and New Zealand dispatched nearly 300 soldiers and police to Honiara on Wednesday to bolster their peacekeeping forces.
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