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The head of a civil society agency in Papua New Guinea's Bougainville says the main town of Buka was filled with tension on Wednesday when ex-combatants arrived brandishing guns.
Helen Hakena of the Leitana Nehan Women's Agency says the ex-combatants from south Bougainville had come to protest at the number of Asian run businesses in the town.
She says amid fears that shops would be torched police numbers were boosted.
But Ms Hakena told Don Wiseman that Buka leaders managed to persuade the ex-combatants to eschew violence and the tension was defused.