The World - News from Aug. 21, 1988
Melanesian separatists and loyalists to French rule, foes in a bloody conflict over independence for New Caledonia, agreed on the final shape of a pact that would divide the South Pacific territory until a referendum on nationhood. Meeting in Paris, the two sides hammered out the final document after marathon negotiations. The accord divides New Caledonia into three regions to be administered by their mainly Melanesian and European settler majorities. A local referendum on nationhood is to be held in 1998.
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