Pacific

Bougainville fighters' reconciliation a significant step

15:02 pm on 11 April 2019

A reconciliation is being planned in Papua New Guinea between the country's defence force, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, and other factions involved in the region's bloody, ten-year-long civil war.

The reconciliation is being held in June just four months before Bougainvilleans vote in a referendum on independence from Port Moresby.

PNG's Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Bougainville Affairs, William Samb, says it's important to have a proper reconciliation before the referendum.

And the deputy opposition leader in the PNG parliament, and MP for South Bougainville, Tim Masiu, agrees, as he explained to Don Wiseman.

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Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins