Government Halts Mercenary Contract

In a victory for rioters and army mutineers, the government of Papua New Guinea suspended its contract for mercenary soldiers. Five people were seriously injured in four days of protests over the hiring of mercenaries to help put down a nine-year uprising on Bougainville. Mutiny leader Brig. Gen. Jerry Singirok says the government overpaid Britain-based Sandline International, which supplied the mercenaries, while army soldiers received minimal wages. Prime Minister Julius Chan suspended the $27-million contract with Sandline pending a judicial investigation.