Solomon Islands Atty. General A Wanted Man

A lawyer sought in Australia on child sex charges was sworn in Tuesday as the Solomon Islands' attorney general, sparking condemnation from the Australian government.

A jury on the South Pacific island of Vanuatu acquitted Julian Moti in 1997 on charges of raping a 13-year-old girl there. He later settled a civil action taken against him by her family.

Under Australia's anti-pedophile laws, its citizens can be tried for crimes committed overseas. Moti evaded extradition to his home country last October when he escaped custody in Papua New Guinea.

On Tuesday, Moti declared his innocence and said the Australian bid to extradite him was unjustified.

"Justice will finally triumph as well when the responsible Australian prosecutorial authorities confront our government's lawyers to discuss what was fact and what was fiction in the case which they want to mount against me," Moti said.

In Sydney, Prime Minister John Howard called Moti's appointment "quite extraordinary."

"It is a very provocative and insensitive thing for somebody who is wanted on a criminal charge in this country to be sworn in as the attorney general," Howard told reporters.

Moti is a close friend of Solomons' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who has repeatedly blocked Australia's efforts to have Moti return to face child sex charges, accusing Canberra of seeking Moti's return for unspecified political reasons.

Relations between Sogavare and Canberra are poor, with the Solomons' leader claiming an Australian-led peacekeeping mission to the Solomon Islands is undermining his nation's sovereignty.

Australia has criticized Sogavare's appointment of two officials who have been jailed in connection to rioting that razed part of the capital in April last year.

Howard said Moti's appointment would have no direct effect on the peacekeeping mission.