Australian troops have began a peace mission to the Solomon Islands as soldiers and equipment landed at the impoverished nation's main airport today.
Solomon Islanders, weary of five years of ethnic violence and plagued by armed militia who hold them to ransom, welcomed the Australian-led deployment of multinational peacekeepers.
The peacekeepers and police also include contingents from New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.
Hundreds of people have died during five years of ethnic conflict between militia from Guadalcanal and Malaita islands.
Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza fled into hiding on Wednesday because of fears former militia members, who frequently extort money from the government, might make a last-minute stab at derailing the deployment by killing or kidnapping him.
He is believed to have returned to Honiara at midday today, shortly before the arrival of the Mr Nick Warner, the Australian head of the intervention force. Mr Warner said up to 600 troops, police and civilians would be on the ground in Honiara by the end of Wednesday.
He was confident that law and order would be restored quickly. "I don't think it's going to be difficult," he said.
Once peacekeepers secure Honiara they may then head to island provinces such as the Weathercoast, where warlord Harold Keke holds sway and terrorises locals.
Under the intervention plan, former militia members will be given an amnesty to hand in an estimated 1,300 illegal weapons.
There is overwhelming public backing for the force, which is called "Operation Helpem Fren" in the pidgin English that loosely unites the 450,000 islanders and their 60 different languages, living around 1,200 miles northeast of Australia.