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BRISBANE, Australia : A top Australian politician and Aboriginal leaders flew to an offshore island hit by unrest with a plan to prevent violence breaking out again.
Under tight security, Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie flew to Palm Island with state police minister Judy Spence for talks with the island's Aboriginal council.
Friday's rioting was prompted by anger over the death of a popular Aboriginal in police custody. Eleven people have been arrested and charged over the violence in which the island's police station and court house were burned to the ground.
The eleven men, aged between 26 and 54, are being held in the mainland city of Townsville where they are due to appear in court on Monday charged with offences including arson and serious assault on police.
Beattie has blamed the island's Aboriginal leaders for poor leadership but said Sunday he wanted to mend relations.
"Everyone needs to understand that the law will be enforced," Beattie told national radio. "The law applies to black and white, there's no differences.
"But we do want to move on and we expect some leadership from the island and we will make sure that this moves on.
"We don't want this to be repeated."
On Friday a crowd of some 300 Aboriginals rioted over the death of popular Aborigine Cameron Doomadgee, 36, after the release of autopsy results showing he had broken ribs and died from a punctured lung in the police watchhouse.
Police said Doomadgee's injuries were the result of a scuffle with police in which he had punched an officer in the head.
It is the second major riot in an Aboriginal community this year, following one in February in Sydney's Aboriginal suburb of Redfern, also triggered by the controversial death of a young Aboriginal.
Aboriginal leaders on Palm Island have said police should shoulder some of the blame for their failure to properly investigate Aboriginal deaths in police custody.
Palm Island has had a troubled history, earning the dubious title of the most violent place on earth outside a combat zone in the 1998 Guinness Book of Records. - AFP
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