Reports from Papua New Guinea say wanted conman Noah Musingku has been shot and wounded in a gunfight in the south of the autonomus province of Bougainville.
The reports say four of bodyguards were killed by a group calling itself the Bougainville Freedom Fighters who attacked Mr Musingku's base near Tonu.
One of the attackers was reportedly killed and two were wounded.
The raid into his no-go zone is said to have been launched out of frustration at the inability of the Autonomous Bougainville Government to arrest Mr Musingku and stop criminal incidents in the area.
The government had been negotiating with Mr Musingku, who calls himself King Peii II, to surrender arms.
Mr Musingku and his men, including five former Fiji soldiers in his pay, have reportedly fled to Sininai in the mountains of the Siwai district.
Mr Muskingku ran a pyramid scheme in PNG and fled to Solomon Islands in 2003 where he promised to give the government 350 million US dollars.
