PNG warns Solomon Islands over rebel issue

PNG warns Solomon Islands over rebel issue

PORT MORESBY (Agencies): Papua New Guinea has warned the
Solomon Islands it will send its troops in hot pursuit if its
South Pacific neighbor continues to harbor secessionist rebels
from conflict-torn Bougainville island.

"If they do, we will make it hell for them," Defense Minister
Mathias Ijape said in a statement carried in newspapers here
yesterday.

Ijape said Papua New Guinea had suffered because rebels had
used the Solomon Islands to gain access to the island.

The rebel Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) has been
fighting government forces on Bougainville for nearly eight
years, during which hundreds of islanders have died.

"All that Papua New Guinea is asking is for the Solomon
Islands not to let their soil become a criminal hideout or
haven," Ijape said.

"I am warning the Solomon Islands that if criminals cross the
border to get refuge in Solomon Islands, the Papua New Guinea
Defense Force (PNGDF) will cross the border in hot pursuit and
deal with those criminals on Solomon Islands soil," Ijape added.

He said he had told the Solomon Islands this was acceptable by
international law and anything less than full cooperation would
be treated as a slap in Papua New Guinea's face.

"The Solomon Islands government has literally made the people
of Papua New Guinea lose hundreds of human lives and 700 million
kina (US$525 million) financially while their people continue to
be spectators and enjoy the good life," Ijape said.

"The Solomon Islands continues to provide shelter for
criminals who escape from Bougainville under the disguise of
humanitarian reasons," he said.

Ijape said he expected in coming weeks there would be a
massive exodus of BRA fighters from Bougainville, which lies near
the Solomon Islands.

Papua New Guinea last week lifted an 18-month cease-fire on
the island, 850 kilometers northeast of the Papua New Guinea
mainland, after 11 troops were killed in renewed violence.

Relations between Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have
been strained in recent years by what Port Moresby sees as
Honiara's sympathetic stance over Bougainville's secessionist
movement.

Meanwhile, a threat by Ijape to authorize "hot pursuit" raids
into Solomon Islands territory after Bougainville rebels has
brought a cautious response from the Solomons.

Prime Minister Solomon Mamaloni issued a copy of a letter he
wrote to PNG Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan expressing regret at
PNG's decision to lift a ceasefire agreement with the
Bougainville seccessionist rebels.

In his letter to Chan, Mamaloni urged dialog with the rebels
rather than a return to confrontation and said the Solomon
Islands was ready to help facilitate this.