Police in the Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville are powerless to arrest a group of armed Fiji mercenaries in the rebel-held south of the main island.
Reports from the provincial capital, Buka, say a fugitive Briton and Australian linked with the Mekamui rebels have now left the town to join their colleagues in the rebel zone.
Police say the fugitive businessman, Noah Musingku, is also in the area around the Panguna mine.
The acting police commander, Senior Inspector Paul Kamuai, says the Fiji mercenaries travelled through Port Moresby and Buka.
Senior Inspector Kamuai says security forces have their hands tied.
"The Bougainville police service are not armed, and these people are armed, that is the situation, and it may not be possible for the Bougainville police to surround them."
Senior Inspector Kamuai says extra security is in place at Buka airport after police intelligence uncovered plans by Mekamui rebels to hijack an Air Niugini plane.
Meanwhile, Air Niugini is believed to have diverted a domestic flight bound for the Bougainville Provincial capital, Buka, on Saturday after learning that Me'ekamui soldiers planned to hijack the aircraft.
The plane had left Rabaul earlier in the day and was supposed to fly to Buka before proceeding to Port Moresby.
The National newspaper reports that the plane is believed to have flown direct to Port Moresby with its Buka-bound passengers.
Bougainville police commander, Assistant Commissioner Joseph Bemu told the National newspaper that local police received a fax from Arawa last week warning of the plan to hijack the plane and divert it to the old Aropa airport.
Other sources told the newspaper that Me'ekamui forces planned to hijack a plane to fly a group of Fijians out of Bougainville.
The paper says the Fijians, who are alleged to have been training Me'ekamui recruits in the use of modern firearms, flew into Bougainville from Solomon Islands in a helicopter chartered by Noah Musingku, who ran an outlawed money scheme.
