Fighting flares up on Bougainville
Fighting flares up on Bougainville
PORT MORESBY (Reuter): Fighting had flared up again on the
Papua New Guinea (PNG) island of Bougainville with continuous
rebel attacks on pro-government villages this week, Bougainville
Premier Theodore Miriung said yesterday.
The attacks have prompted some members of parliament to call
for all-out war against the Bougainville Revolutionary Army
(BRA), which has been fighting for secession for almost eight
years.
Miriung said in a statement that several civilians were
wounded in the attacks, which have shattered hopes for peace
after a second round of talks between all parties in Cairns in
Australia last month.
PNG opposition leader Roy Evara called on Prime Minister Sir
Julius Chan to declare an "all-out war" on the BRA.
"If the rebels want war it should be given to them," Evara
said in a statement. "The BRA are at war with the rest of Papua
New Guinea and we must stop playing marbles with them."
South Bougainville member of parliament, Michael Laimo,
challenged rebel leaders to prove their control over the BRA
members.
"Given the recent kind of behavior by the BRA, the BRA
leadership that is involved in the current peace process has
either lost all control or that is not a truly representative
group," Laimo said in a statement.
He called for the government to suspend all peace talks until
the BRA leadership has proved its true credentials.
A third round of talks was expected to be held in Australia in
March or April to continue discussions on disarming all factions,
amnesty for rebels, and the future status of Bougainville.
The conflict on Bougainville has devastated the resource-rich
island, stopping all vital services and halting its lucrative
agricultural and mining industries, including CRA Ltd's massive
Panguna copper mine, idle since 1989.
Since the conflict began, hundreds of people have died, either
in fighting or due to a lack of medical supplies available on the
island, which is 800 kilometers northeast of Port Moresby.