BOUGAINVILLE rebels have snubbed the Papua New Guinea government's latest bid to resume peace talks and have geared up to disrupt the national elections on the island.
Observers say the abduction of Melanesian Alliance leader John Momis is calculated to gain some psychological advantage over a government still in disarray over the fallout from the Sandline mercenary crisis.
The rebels' Australian-based spokesman Moses Havini condemned the so-called Barter peace plan, named after initiatives by Local Government Minister Peter Barter to solve the eight-year-old civil war with a peaceful political solution.
Mr Havini brushed aside the Australian government's response which hailed the aborted plan as a breakthrough.
He says the Bougainville rebel leadership would not be coerced into a process they have not been a party to.
Mr Havini also says the rebels' political leader Francis Ona is awaiting the results of the general election which begins on June14 and ends a fortnight later.
The rebels believe there is nobody they can effectively deal with in the Papua New Guinea government.
Acting Prime Minister John Giheno's leadership has been regarded as uncertain and Sir Julius Chan, the Prime Minister who stood down pending the Commission of Inquiry into the Sandline affair, said today he was resuming the leadership.
Late last week Judge Warwick Andrew handed over to the government his report investigating the 36 US million dollar deal. The agreement had hired a South African-based mercenary force to spearhead an operation to crush the BRA leadership and reopen the giant Panguna copper mine.
Giheno had not made the confidential report public. But already leaked copies of the report have stirred an angry row among the political and military establishment.
The irony of Mr Momis's abduction is that he has long been an outspoken critic of the Chan government and he resigned as a cabinet minister two years ago.
According to reports, Mr Momis was seized at Tinputz along with a staunch supporter, James Bili, by five armed men and driven away in a vehicle.
Moments earlier, they had left a political rally after having attended a mass.
While his wife Elizabeth said he was unharmed and appealed for her husband's safety, military sources claimed rebel activities were stepping up their activities trying to prevent voting.
Electoral officer Mathias Pihei said a peace treaty signed last year between the assassinated Bougainville Premier Theodore Miriung barred security forces from entering areas regarded as peace zones.
Mr Pihei says the PNG security forces will now reassess their options.
DAVID ROBIE
IN PORT MORESBY
FOR RADIO DEUTSCHE WELLE
Copyright © 1997 David Robie and Asia-Pacific Network. This document is for educational and personal use only.
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