Peace monitors to leave PNG

Peace monitors to leave PNG

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: International peace monitors will leave Papua New Guinea's Bougainville island next week in the next step toward autonomy after more than a decade of conflict, the Australian government said on Tuesday.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the 101 peace monitors, including 75 Australians, would leave Bougainville on June 30 and be replaced by a civilian transition team staffed from Australia and New Zealand from July 1.

The peace monitors, from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu, have been working with the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government and Bougainville rebels since 1997 to end one of the South Pacific's longest-running conflicts.

A 13-year uprising on the cigar-shaped island ended in August 2001 under a deal granting it autonomy and an eventual vote on independence from PNG in 10 to 15 years. PNG gained independence from Australia in 1975.

Up to 15,000 of Bougainville's 160,000 people are estimated to have died during the fighting, with most deaths due to lack of medicine and other necessities caused by a naval blockade. --Reuters