The so-called "Happy Isles" have been brought to collapse by civil war

Foreign ministers from 16 South Pacific nations decided at an emergency meeting in Sydney that they would support an Australian proposal for a multinational force to be sent to the troubled archipelago.

Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Laurie Chan said his country was happy with the decision.

"I think... we finally have an opportunity to feel safe, an opportunity to get back to normal," said Mr Chan after the meeting.

The final decision to deploy an international force will only be made when the Solomon Islands parliament makes an official request for outside help.

A special parliamentary sitting to discuss the issue is scheduled for early July.

The impoverished Solomon Islands, with a population of around half a million, have been ruined by three years of ethnic conflict and corruption.

Matter of weeks

Australia - which is expected to spearhead the intervention - announced last week that it was ready to commit some 1,500 troops and 150 police to the force, which is envisaged to be about 2,000-strong.

Q&A: Solomons crisis

New Zealand and Papua New Guinea had also already said they would contribute.

But Australia and New Zealand were eager to get the backing of regional governments to avoid charges of neo-colonialism.

A peacekeeping force from eight nations, including Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, could now be on its way to the Solomons within a matter of weeks, according to the BBC correspondent in Sydney, Phil Mercer.

Violence continues

The Solomon Islands, an archipelago 2,500 km (1,550 miles) north-east of Sydney, is a former British colony.

Much of the police force was involved in a coup three years ago.

This happened during a bitter civil war between ethnic groups from the islands of Guadalcanal and Malaita over land rights and jobs.

Hostilities were officially brought to an end by the Townsville Peace Agreement brokered by Australia in October 2000.

However, violence and corruption have continued, as have the killings, with dozens of people - including an Australian missionary - murdered this year alone.