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| Southeast Asia | |
| PNG prime minister says mutiny quelled | |
| 2012-01-27 | |
Soldiers loyal to former Prime Minister Michael Somare staged a mutiny earlier in the day, putting the military commander under house arrest and demanding O’Neill reinstate Somare as the leader of the resource-rich South Pacific country. But O’Neill told reporters in the capital Port Moresby that military commander had now been released and the rebel soldiers had withdrawn to their barracks. “The commander is now released, he’s not under house arrest. And as a result the government has taken full control of the defense headquarters,” O’Neill said. “We will now start an investigation into the issues that the soldiers have and we’ll resolve them as we move forward.” O’Neill said the mutiny leader, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, was being dealt with, but he did not clarify whether Sasa had been detained. Papua New Guinea has for months been gripped in a political deadlock. O’Neill took office in August after Somare was ruled ineligible as a member of parliament due to illness and absence from the legislature. The Supreme Court in December ruled Somare be reinstated as a member of parliament. O’Neill rejected the ruling and parliament again voted him prime minister, leaving the country with two competing leaders. In the early hours of Thursday, up to 20 soldiers raided the main army barracks, seized their chief commander and placed him under house arrest in an action dubbed Operation Protect the Constitution. “I call on the disciplinary forces to ensure public safety by exercising restraint at all times,” Somare said in a statement announcing he had appointed a new defense force chief and again declaring he was the legitimate prime minister. Residents of Port Moresby said the dusty port capital was quiet but tense throughout the day, with roadblocks around the main army barracks. PNG has a history of political and military unrest. An army mutiny in 1997 overthrew the government after it employed mercenaries to try to end a long-running secessionist rebellion on the island of Bougainville, home to a big copper mine. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |