Truce "tremendous," but Peace far from Complete in B'ville id OAA21426; Wed, 15 Oct 1997 14:04:44 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source: N.Braumann@tu-bs.de Mon Oct 13 20:20:01 1997 http://www.wr.com.au:80/national/m4.htm McKinnon hails truce, warns it's only a start CANBERRA: The truce between the Bougainville rebels and the Papua New Guinea government was tremendous, New Zealand Foreign Minister Don McKinnon said, but warned that the peace process was far from complete. "This is a tremendous day really for all those who've been following this process, particularly for the people on Bougainville," Mr McKinnon, who facilitated the NZ peace talks, told ABC radio. "This process did begin in the very early part of this year through a series of meetings and a series of talks and then the Burnham I talks and now the Burnham II talks, but this truce agreement has certainly gone further than what I would have expected to happen this time around." Mr McKinnon said he expected a cease-fire objective may have been set but the parties had gone much further with a truce. "It reflects the very genuine commitment of all those who have been involved, from the Papua New Guinean representatives to the village-level rebel commanders, all who do fully recognise the need to move away from the conflict that they've been involved in at the present time," he said. Mr McKinnon did not wish to compare his success with Australia's failed efforts to broker peace. "We've still got a way to go. We're probably only about halfway there," he said. He said he was confident the truce could be sustained. He did not expect the situation to be totally incident-free but said there was little anger left. "A truce is all about trust. Both sides have got to give, both sides have got to adhere to it, both sides have got to really work hard to maintain that commitment," Mr McKinnon said. He said he had yet to speak to rebel leader Francis Ona but factional leaders to whom he had spoken had greeted the truce with excitement. "(There is) a real elation on the island, and from Papua New Guinea a lot of people are very, very pleased it's got this far," Mr McKinnon said. Meanwhile, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and acting Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Fischer said the truce was an important confidence-building measure. "This is an important confidence-building measure and augurs well for continued discussions between the parties, including the Papua New Guinea government," Mr Fischer said in a statement. "The signing is also an important step along the path towards peace and reconciliation on Bougainville. "I am also very pleased that the Australian government was able to play such an important role in facilitating these discussions." Mr Fischer said he welcomed the planned leaders' meeting to be held before Jan 31, 1998, and said Australia stood ready to assist again to support the talks. - AAP ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytpac-10.15.97-14:04:44-9882