France’s overseas minister Manuel Valls is in New Caledonia after a landmark peace deal unravelled, with a major pro-independence group rejecting it despite having signed an accord.
Failure of the agreement risks a repeat of the riots of last year, which led to 14 deaths and over €2 billion (US$2.33 billion) in material damage.
When 19 delegates, representing pro- and anti-independence parties, signed the Bougival Accord in July this year, it was announced as a roadmap to peace—a chance to end a conflict that began in 1975 when indigenous Kanaks first demanded independence, and that has often turned violent in the 50 years since….
France Sends Minister to New Caledonia in Bid to Rescue Peace Plan
