Bougainville Agreement Signed

Nearly ten years of fighting on the island of Bougainville in the South Pacific have officially come to an end, with the signing of a peace treaty between rebels and the Papua New Guinea government.

It was also signed by foreign ministers from several countries in the region and members of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army.

Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said the agreement offered a chance of lasting peace.

But one rebel leader, Francis Ona, who did not attend the peace talks, has warned that his forces will shoot on sight at any truce monitors or Papuan government troops entering areas of Bougainville that he controls.

The agreement provides for Australian troops to monitor the peace, and more talks on the issue of Bougainvillean independence.

An estimated twenty thousand people are thought to have died from shortages of medicine and food -- as well as military action -- during the Bougainville conflict, which was provoked by a landowner campaign against a vast copper mine.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service