Papua new Guinea's opposition leader Peter O'Neill has called for the Prime Minister's resignation over alleged "underhand dealings" in the sale of Telikom PNG to African company Econet Wireless Limited.
His comments come after five Econet directors were arrested in Zimbabwe on allegations of externalising and illegally dealing in foreign currency amounting to nearly 5 million US dollars.
Mr O'Neill says the arrests raise serious questions about the African company's dealings with Sir Michael Somare's government which plans to sell a controlling share of Telikom to Econet.
The opposition leader says that Sir Michael should resign for having helped drive the Telikom-Econet deal since its conception.
Mr O'Neill says the opposition has maintained that issues of integrity, probity, accountability and transparency have been non-existent throughout the sale process.
He says it's now obvious that Econet is a corporate front for money laundering and illegal currency transfers between countries through making similar deals as they have done with Telikom PNG Limited.
The arrests come only days before the PNG Cabinet decides to approve or shelve plans to sell Telikom to Econet.
