A/HRC/4/42 page 10 26. By the time of this report, the Working Group had not received information from the Government of Honduras in regard to these allegations (see paragraph 17 above). II. COUNTRY SITUATIONS 27. This section provides an overview of issues of interest to the Working Group in different regions. A section of situations in Africa will be submitted in a forthcoming report of the Working Group. A. Asia-Pacific and the Middle East 28. The Working Group has continued to follow the situation in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, and reports of alleged Fijian mercenaries operating on this autonomous island (A/61/341, para. 81). The most recent information received by the Working Group is the emergence of a new group, calling itself “Bougainville Freedom Fighters” formed to engage with allegedly contracted mercenaries, and that a number of the alleged mercenaries were reported to have been wounded in an outbreak of violence in late November 2006. 29. The Chairperson-Rapporteur welcomed the opportunity to follow up on the repeated requests to visit Papua New Guinea and Fiji, respectively, in separate meetings with the respective countries’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York in November 2006. In the meeting with the Permanent Representative of Fiji, the Chairperson-Rapporteur also noted information received that over 1,000 Fijians are currently working for PMSCs in Iraq and Kuwait. The Permanent Representative of Fiji informed the Working Group of the efforts undertaken by the Government, including sending of officials to Papua New Guinea, to urge eight Fijian former officers to return to Fiji. The Permanent Representative also expressed an understanding of the appeal for foreign PMSCs of the high standard of training of the Fijians recruited, who often have a military or police background. In both meetings the Chairperson expressed the importance of viewing the situation as a phenomenon in a regional and global context, and reiterated that a visit by the Working Group could share experiences and perspectives on the consequences of pertinent issues. The Working Group regrets that invitations to visit have not yet been extended by the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, respectively, and encourages the Governments to respond favourably to this request to undertake a visit to the region. 30. The Working Group notes with appreciation the positive response from the Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to consult on issues related to the situation, and it is envisioned that this invitation to consult be taken up in 2007. 31. The Working Group has followed the developments in Iraq, and notes that the extensive use of PMSCs could lead to the privatization of the conflict.2 With an estimated 2 Cf. Kim Sengupta, “UK: Blair accused of trying to ‘privatise’ war in Iraq”, The Independent, 30 October 2006. The result would be for the Government to take control of the war operations without being responsible for the illegal activities committed, according to D. Bigo “Les entreprises de coercition paramilitaires: de nouveaux mercenaires?”, Cultures et Conflits, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004.