PNG signs peace accord with Bougainville rebels

PNG signs peace accord with Bougainville rebels

HONIARA, Bougainville (AFP): Bougainville secessionist leaders were closed in private talks in the Solomon Island capital yesterday following the historic peace accord hammered out in negotiations with Papua New Guinea prime minister Sir Julius Chan.

If successful, the accord will end a rebellion in which 2,000 to 3,000 people are estimated to have died either in fighting, or as an indirect result of conflict on the copper-rich island province since 1988.

Chan arrived Friday and an accord was announced a day later. Bougainville Revolutionary Army military commander Sam Kauona gave a cautious welcome to the accord and yesterday he held a private meeting with senior BRA officials.

A date for a cease-fire is to be announced within seven days, but the agreement said military forces of both sides were to remain in their present positions and not take any advantage until it comes into effect.

It also calls for the lifting of the government blockade around rebel-dominated areas of Bougainville and the convening of a peace conference before Oct. 10.

A South Pacific peace keeping force composed of troops from Fiji, Tonga and the Solomon Islands would be sent to the island to ensure the cease-fire was honored.

The agreement meantime is being seen in Papua New Guinea as a victory for Chan, elected prime minister following the departure last week of Paias Wingti, who was forced into an election by the Supreme Court.

Chan, who said Bougainville was his top priority, arrived in the Solomon Islands on Friday for talks with BRA leaders, headed by Kauona.

After the agreement was announced Saturday, Chan called for popular support in Bougainville and throughout Papua New Guinea for efforts to implement the spirit and the terms of the Honiara Agreement.

"This is a positive beginning on a path to peace," he said.

Chan also reportedly said there were bandits who continued to rob and murder on Bougainville and who would be a continued threat to peace far out of proportion to their numbers.

He said much of the arms and ammunition had been shipped across the border from the Solomon Islands and called on the Solomons to help stop the smuggling of weapons.

Captured

BRA leader Kauona, a former Papua New Guinea army officer, reportedly said most of his men's best weapons had been captured from government troops.

Kauona, dressed in jungle military fatigues, said at a joint press conference with Chan he was honored Chan was "able to put the war on Bougainville first, even before the urgent affairs of Papua New Guinea.

But he said the conflict had to be addressed carefully so that a lasting peace could be found.

Port Moresby, which has long held most of the province, started a recent advance into the rebel stronghold of central Bougainville site of the rich Australian-owned Panguna copper mine, which was the original focus of revolt.

Three soldiers have died in unsuccessful attempts to recapture the mine, including the officer in charge of the Panguna operation, Maj. Boge Keke.