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.