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Pilots: Papua New Guinea cancels mercenary contract
March 19, 1997
Web posted at: 11:52 a.m. EST (1652 GMT)PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (CNN) -- Mercenaries hired by the Papua New Guinea government to help put down a rebellion on Bougainville island are going back home, according to pilots-for-hire who said Wednesday their contract had been canceled.
"The contract's terminated. It's as simple as that," one of the pilots told reporters in Singapore. "It's better for both sides." The pilots, who declined to be identified, said they were on their way home to South Africa after only arriving in Papua New Guinea on Sunday.
Earlier Wednesday, protesters delivered a petition to Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan demanding his resignation and calling for the mercenaries to be sent home.
Chan said he was considering canceling the contract his government signed with British-based Sandline International for the hire of the mercenaries. Chan said that six of 40 mercenaries already in the country had left, and that the remaining 34 were confined to barracks in the north of the country.
Army troops there threatened to deport the soldiers-of- fortune.
The issue pushed the country into a crisis when defense chief Jerry Singirok ordered the military to refuse to cooperate with the mercenaries. Chan fired Singirok, who said Tuesday he accepted his dismissal but remained holed up in Port Moresby's main barracks.
At least 1,500 protesters arrived at the site to support him.
"I want (Chan) to resign, step down," said protest leader Michael Tataki. "Tell the people he's done wrong."
Some military officers lent at least their verbal support to the demonstrators.
"The mercenaries have come in here and undermined the constitutional rule of this country," Major Walter Enuma told the crowd. Enuma also said the defense force still considered Singirok to be its commander.
Enuma pledged that his troops would be restrained amid the growing turmoil.
The protest outside the city's Murray military barracks began peacefully but later turned violent when about 200 of the protesters began looting downtown shops. They were dispersed within 30 minutes by police with volleys of tear gas.
Secessionists have battled government troops for nine years on Bougainville, demanding independence for the resource-rich island.
Correspondent John Raedler and Reuters contributed to this report.
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- Military crisis ends in Papua New Guinea - March 18, 1997
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