Troops riot in Papua New Guinea

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, MARCH 20. Mutinous Papua New Guinea soldiers rioted in the presence of the Defence Minister, Mr. Kilroy Genia, in the capital Port Moresby today, during a meeting which was supposed to end a stand-off between rebel soldiers and the Government.

Available reports suggested that the Defence Minister, who escaped unhurt, beat a hasty retreat.

Some 100 soldiers seized M-16 rifles from Port Moresby's Murray Barracks last Thursday and have remained holed up inside the military installation since then.

These soldiers, who appear to have the backing of some Opposition politicians, have demanded that the Government scrap plans to reduce the size of the armed forces by half to 2,000.

The Government of the Prime Minister, Sir Mekere Morauta, meanwhile, has announced that it had decided to scrap the proposed reforms in the military.

The political crisis grew serious yesterday after the rebel soldiers set a ``deadline'' of seven days for Sir Mekere Morauta, who took office in July 1999, to quit.

On Tuesday, over 1,000 students demonstrated in Port Moresby demanding the dismissal of the Prime Minister and an end to World Bank-International Monetary Fund economic reforms.

Papua New Guinea, which attained independence in 1975 from Australia, also attracted expressions of strong concern from its former colonial master.

The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. John Howard, was quoted as saying that he was keeping a close eye on the situation. ``We have to respect the sovereignty of that country, but we're following it very closely and we would be extremely disturbed, to say the least, if there was any challenge to the constitutional authority of the Government.''

In London, his Foreign Minister, Mr. Alexander Downer, warned that Papua New Guinea would face economic sanctions if the Government was ousted. He said the Papua New Guinea Government had not sought help from Australia.

Asked if Australia was prepared to intervene militarily, Mr. Downer said he would not respond to a hypothetical situation.

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Section  : International
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