22 Apr 2004

Solomons detectives urged to speed up rape investigation

10:26 am on 22 April 2004

The Solomon Islands' national security minister is urging police to speed up an investigation into claims an Australian peacekeeper was raped.

The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation reports that Michael Maina has asked the Solomons' acting commissioner of police, Ben McDevitt, to look into the claims with urgency.

Mr Maina says it's important that the truth be established quickly.

A soldier with the Regional Assistance Mission was last week found in a distressed state with minor injuries, near the military camp at Henderson Field, near Honiara.

She said she'd been abducted at gunpoint from the camp, and later claimed she had been raped, Australian Associated Press adds.

Mr McDevitt says ongoing investigations have so far failed to uncover any evidence supporting the soldier's claim.