Articles Search

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (RNZI, Jan. 1) - Government officials in Papua New Guinea have warned the Somare administration that failure to take action against the separatist Free Papua Movement or OPM could result in serious repercussions.

The Post Courier reports Border officials saying that the continued presence of OPM militants from Indonesia’s Papua province in PNG could lead to more that just an official protest from Jakarta.

The government sources say that an attack against Jarkarta troops in early December was the work of OPM rebels who are living in camps on the PNG side of its shared border with Indonesia.

They claim also that the Christmas Eve attack on the family of the human rights activist, John Bonay, involved separatist rebels.

The officials say that the government must make a firm stand now as the OPM is using PNG as a shield to launch their attacks against Indonesia.

They say that Papua New Guineans living near the border are...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Paoa FM/PINA, Jan. 2) – The crew of a Solomon Islands Police patrol boat are reported to have demanded to be paid before they sail to the cyclone-hit islands of Tikopia and Anuta.

News of the pay problem came amidst continuing delays in the departure of the patrol boat to take officials and medical and relief supplies to the remote islands.

The Australian High Commission earlier provided money to buy fuel for the boat to leave, with the Solomon Islands Government facing a continuing financial crisis.

National Disaster Management Office officers then said they were waiting for money from the government. They said they needed this to buy food supplies to take for the islanders, with all food crops on the islands almost certainly destroyed.

The questions over the patrol boat crew's pay come amidst regular confrontations between public officers and the government over overdue and unpaid salaries.

Tikopia and Anuta faced the...

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Pacific Islands Report, Jan. 2) - Hawaiian Airlines, has announced that it will join most other U.S. airlines in eliminating all paper tickets from its distribution system in 2003.

The airline already defaults to electronic ticketing for all direct reservations and sales and is positioning itself to offer customers higher levels of convenience and value through greater use of available technology.

Consistent with other carriers that have converted to ticketless operations, Hawaiian will continue to offer paper tickets upon request for a fee of $25.00.

In its operations within Hawaii, the change will mean an end to Hawaiian’s production and distribution of interisland flight "coupons" effective Monday, January 6, 2003 and reliance on established published fares, which start at levels below the current market price for coupons. Existing coupons will continue to be honored.

John W. Adams, chairman and CEO, said, "As airlines seek every...

JAKARTA, Indonesia (PINA, Jan. 1) - Papua's independence movement was given a blunt New Year’s message by Indonesia's senior security minister, saying independence from Indonesia will not be tolerated.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said there was no room to hold a vote of self-determination like that in East Timor.

Susilo, a former general, was giving journalists his year-end news briefing, in which he spoke about Papua, a restive province of more than two million people.

Rebels in Papua, which borders Papua New Guinea, have been fighting for independence since Indonesia took over the former Dutch colony in the 1960s.

Amnesty International estimates that at least 100,000 Papuans were killed during the 1967-98 regime of former Indonesian President Suharto. Pro-independence groups claim more.

Indonesia's new democratic government introduced last year a special status for Papua. Under special...