Papua New Guinea declares nine-month state of emergency over riots

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Papua New Guinea has declared a state of emergency, suspended a provincial government and is sending armed forces to its rugged highlands to restore order after rioters went on a rampage of looting and burning, the Government said. Violence has long ravaged the poor but resource-rich and remote interior of the Pacific Ocean nation, where tribal and land disputes overlay local politics. Key points: Rioters were angered by a failed court challenge to a regional governor's election

The Southern Highlands provincial government has been suspended

Police, investigators and defence force troops will be deployed

Armed crowds angered over the failure of a court challenge to a regional governor's election burned an airplane, looted a warehouse and torched buildings in Mendi, the capital of the Southern Highlands province, earlier this week. Whether they will carry this on again tomorrow, or onwards, I don’t know.”

Papua New Guinea has declared a nine-month state of emergency in the province, and suspended its government for the duration, prime minister Peter O’Neill said on Friday. "The actions of reckless individuals damaging property in Mendi has disgusted the nation," Mr O'Neill said on his website. “Police will investigate every agitator, and every person who was involved in the unrest.”

Thomas Eluh, a former policeman and acting administrator in the province, has been given constitutional emergency powers. Police, including a mobile squad, were immediately deployed, along with criminal investigators, Mr O'Neill added. More than 200 PNG Defence Force troops are to be flown to the city of Mount Hagen on Saturday before making their way to Mendi, media outlet Loop PNG said. Reuters was unable to confirm the court's verdict after business hours on Thursday and Air Nuigini could not immediately be reached for comment. In April aid workers bringing relief supplies following a huge earthquake were ordered out of the neighboring provincial capital, Tari, and the army sent in to try and rein in disputes. “It’s a big, big disruption,” policeman Naring Bongi told Reuters by telephone from Mendi, the capital of the Southern Highlands province, about 500 km (310 miles) northwest of the national capital Port Moresby.
The government of Papua New Guinea declares a state of emergency and suspends the government of Southern Highlands Province following post-election riots in the provincial capital of Mendi.