Reuters AlertNet Lite - Commercial flights return to riot-hit Tonga

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Commercial flights return to riot-hit Tonga

20 Nov 2006 08:01:50 GMT
Source: Reuters

CANBERRA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The first commercial flights in five days landed in Tonga on Monday as Australian and New Zealand forces patrolled the nation's main airport and tourists and foreign citizens made plans to leave the capital, Nuku'alofa.

Airlines cancelled regular flights to Tonga last week after rioters looted and torched buildings in central Nuku'alofa on Thursday leaving up to 8 people dead. Australia and New Zealand sent in about 150 troops and police to help restore order.

"It's sad, it's really sad. It was a peaceful country. The thugs destroyed it, and it's a small economy -- it will be hard to recover," Australian Esa Kava, whose business in Tonga was torched, told reporters on arrival in Sydney.

Canadian tourist Sharon Simpson said she was happy to have left after electricity was cut off and travel around the country was curtailed.

"Tonga is in a mess right now -- they have to rebuild," she told reporters. "There's no electricity, there's no power. You couldn't go out really and travel around. You certainly couldn't go into any of the tourist areas or do anything like that."

Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue subsidiary Pacific Blue resumed services to Nuku'alofa on Monday, allowing hundreds to leave the troubled South Pacific island kingdom.

An Air New Zealand spokesman said the first flight from Nuku'alofa to Auckland still had about 40 spare seats.

The rioting began after parliament went into recess for the year without voting on proposals for sweeping democratic reforms to Tonga's semi-feudal political system.

Late on Thursday, the government bowed to the protesters and agreed to new elections in 2008 in which a majority of parliament would be directly elected by popular vote. At present, nobles and appointed MPs outnumber elected representatives.

Canberra and Wellington condemned the violence and warned their nationals in Tonga to stay away from large gatherings.

An Australian Defence Force spokesman said the capital remained calm on Monday as Australian and New Zealand forces conducted joint patrols with Tongan defence personnel.

Australian and New Zealand troops also helped secure the nation's airport in Nuku'alofa.

Australia has three navy ships in the area after they were deployed to the South West Pacific in early November due to possible unrest in Fiji.

A Seahawk helicopter from one of those ships was helping deliver supplies to the airport late on Monday, while a Royal Australian Airforce C-130 Hercules aircraft left Australia with extra supplies for the Australian troops and police.

New Zealand High Commissioner in Tonga Michael McBryde said New Zealanders felt safe in Tonga as they were not the target of the violence.

"As a group, New Zealanders don't feel particularly threatened by what happened last week," McBryde told NZPA.

"We were able to stand on the verandah of the High Commission and observe some quite violent things taking place without feeling personally threatened, because we were not a target."

Tonga, a group of 170 coral and volcanic islands about 2,000 km (1,250 miles) north of New Zealand, saw unprecedented protests in May 2005, when 10,000 people -- a tenth of the population -- took to the streets demanding democracy and public ownership of key assets.

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Last updated:Mon Nov 20 08:04:18 2006