Australia to host PNG peace talks

Australia to host PNG peace talks

CANBERRA (Reuters): Australia is to host talks this week to
help end the secessionist conflict on the Papua New Guinea (PNG)
island of Bougainville, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said
yesterday.

Downer told parliament that the main purpose of the talks,
starting Thursday in the Queensland resort town of Cairns, would
be to pave the way for a leaders' meeting in January.

"I'm pleased to be able to confirm that at the request of all
the parties to the Bougainville dispute, Australia expects to
host the next round of peace talks in Cairns and our expectation
is that the talks will begin on Thursday," Downer said.

About 50 representatives of all the parties to the
Bougainville peace process would attend the Cairns meeting, which
should set up a face-to-face meeting between PNG Prime Minister
Bill Skate and rebel leader Francis Ona.

That meeting was agreed to at the last round of peace talks,
which were held last month at the Burnham army camp near the New
Zealand city of Christchurch. The Burnham meeting also saw the
rival factions agree to a truce in the nine-year war.

New Zealand said Monday it would lead an international Truce
Monitoring Group, which would also include representatives from
Australia, Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu.

The group would also be involved in the early stages of
reconstruction, opening up roads and rebuilding bridges, and
would remain active until the leaders' meeting.

Downer said the peace process would not be advanced by
Australia or New Zealand insisting on compliance with a peace
plan they had developed.