PRESS BRIEFING BY HEAD OF UN OFFICE IN BOUGAINVILLE

PRESS BRIEFING BY HEAD OF UN OFFICE IN BOUGAINVILLE

Peace was breaking out in the south-west Pacific with yesterday's extension of the mandate of the United Nations Political Office in Bougainville (UNPOB) until 2002, mission head Noel Sinclair said at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

He said the people of Bougainville, a province of Papua New Guinea, had fought a 10-year war to demand independence from the central Government.  The conflict had cost 15,000 lives out of a population of 200,000.

Outlining the conflict's history, he said that in January 1998, the parties had signed the Lincoln Agreement establishing the framework within which they would work for a negotiated solution to resolve their differences.  Part of that framework was the establishment of a truce monitoring group comprising personnel from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu.

The parties had signed a permanent ceasefire agreement in April 1998, and the truce monitoring group had become a peace monitoring group, working in very close cooperation with the UNPOB, Mr. Sinclair said.  The UNPOB's mandate included presiding over meetings of the forum established for dialogue among the former combatants and developing a weapons disposal plan.  The UNPOB had presided over peace talks that had begun in 1999 and had led to the signing of a peace agreement on 30 August 2001.

He said the agreement provided for an autonomous government of Bougainville.  Between 10 and 15 years after the establishment of such a government, the Bougainvilleans would hold a referendum to decide between independence and remaining part of Papua New Guinea.  They would also immediately begin putting away their weapons.

Mr. Sinclair said the UNPOB would be asked to certify whether there had been sufficient compliance with the terms of the weapons disposal plan and whether there was adequate security to hold elections for an autonomous government.  The national Government was preparing to submit the peace agreement to parliament next January so it could approve constitutional changes that would allow the granting of autonomy and the holding of a referendum.

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