NZ sees consensus ahead of talks in PNG

NZ sees consensus ahead of talks in PNG

WELLINGTON (Reuters): New Zealand Foreign Minister Don McKinnon said yesterday he was hopeful of a formal cease-fire next week in the protracted secessionist war on Papua New Guinea's Bougainville island.

Signs of a broad consensus for lasting peace bode well for progress at top-level talks, hosted by New Zealand, starting on Monday, he said.

He said he was optimistic a formal cease-fire could be agreed and that discussion would also address the island's political future.

Premier Jenny Shipley will formally open the talks at Christchurch's Lincoln University.

She said in a statement the onus would be on delegates to "grasp the opportunity that now exists and help bring about a better future for their people".

Thousands have died in the Bougainville conflict since landowners revolted in 1988 over damage caused by the huge Panguna copper mine and the royalties received from it.

The mine is owned by a unit of Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto Ltd. A guerrilla war closed the mine in May 1989 and led to a military blockade.

Two large delegations representing Bougainville and Port Moresby are due to be joined during the week by ministers from neighboring countries including Australia and the Solomon Islands.

Wellington and Canberra often point out they are only facilitating the negotiation process, in their latest bid to stop a nine-year war, and are not parties to the talks.

However, McKinnon has followed all the steps closely for six months, during which time hostilities have all but stopped, and said the current consensus "really developed a few weeks ago".

"There has been distinct progress made (through two rounds of talks last year) and this meeting will, to a large extent, be formalizing what has been achieved.

"But of course it puts a much greater stamp on it ... when you have the key leaders (taking part) whose political status and political future rests on something that they can sell to their own people and is sustainable."

Two rounds of meetings between Bougainville parties and officials held in Christchurch last year led to an interim truce being declared, later being supported by a multinational Truce Monitoring Group (TMG) of unarmed military personnel.