Tears, hope as foes reconcile before Bougainville independence vote

Once-sworn enemies in Bougainville's cruel decade-long civil war are holding a series of reconciliation ceremonies, hoping shared tears and apologies can bury the past ahead of a landmark vote on the region's independence from Papua New Guinea.

Former separatist fighters and PNG military are meeting face-to-face, trying to come to terms with a conflict that left up to 20,000 people dead in the bloodiest fighting the South Pacific witnessed since World War II.

Until a 1997 truce, George Diva was a fighter with the pro-independence Bougainville Revolutionary Army.

Now a 50-year-old, he still carries deep scars on his chest from a battle that left him unable to work. But he is adamant reconciliation is the only way the next generation can enjoy a brighter future.

"We had enough loss, sorrow and pain," he told AFP during a reconciliation ceremony this week on the neighbouring island of New Britain, where he fled.

"We don't want to fight any more."
"I killed more people, but I have made compensation for the lives I took."
"It is likely that there will be more problems and reconciliation but that's how it works."