PACIFIC BRIEFS
Marshalls on notice over U.S. aid
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Marshall Islands has been warned that future development aid from the United States could be in jeopardy.
Congressmen Doug Bereuter (R-Nebraska) and Don Young (R-Alaska) said if the former U.S. Trust Territory does not show clear progress in reforming its government and managing U.S. assistance, the Pacific nation will not continue to receive large-scale assistance from Washington.
Funding under a 15-year Compact of Free Association, totaling approximately $2 billion, expires next year. Negotiations for renewal now are under way.
Bougainville talks to resume Dec. 27
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – -The government has heeded warnings about the possibility of renewed war on Bougainville Island by agreeing to resume stalled peace talks on December 27.
Bougainville Governor John Momis and Acting Bougainville Affairs Minister Moi Avei said the negotiations would resume in Kokopo in East New Britain.
Last week, Momis and Bougainville People’s Congress president Joseph Kabui warned that Bougainville could slip back into a renewed war of secession unless the government took firms steps to address the issue of a referendum on independence.
After a decade of civil war, Bougainville and Port Moresby signed aceasefire agreement three years ago.
Warnings against independence moves
PORT VILA, Vanuatu – Any move by Irian Jayan separatists to force independence from Indonesia would end in a serious loss of life, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has warned.
Speaking in Luganville, while on a Pacific-wide tour, Downer reiterated Australia’s official government position on independence for the province that shares the island of New Guinea with independent Papua New Guinea.
“This is not a time in history when we should be starting to redraw the colonial boundaries,” Downer said.
He urged the international community to promote talks between Indonesia and separatists “to work through these problems in a peaceful and constructive way.” (Pacific Islands Report)
