Florida Con Man Busted in New Guinea Ferrying “Funny Money” to Self-Styled Bougainville “King”

South Pacific “funny money” is in the news again.  A couple weeks ago in this blog, we reported on a French police raid on an armed monarchist encampent in Tahiti to arrest a self-styled Polynesian king and his followers for circulating the currency of their proclaimed “Pakumotu Republic.”  And now, at the other, western end of Oceania, a United States citizen was arrested in Papua New Guinea (P.N.G.) for possession of the “illegal” currency of the Bougainville separatist movement

On February 15th, Barry Keith Webb arrived in Port Moresby, the P.N.G. capital, on an Air Niugini flight from Manila, in the Philippines.  He was en route to Buka, the current interim capital of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.  But he was arrested after customs officer found his briefcase contained a million and a half crisp, new Bougainville kina.  Webb produced a letter to corroborate his claim that he was an officer of the International Organisation of Economic Development (I.O.E.D.) formally invited to Tonu, a town on Bougainville Island.  The letter, signed by “King David Peii II,” was to award him the position of Minister of International Monetary Relations, a post with the so-called Central Bank of Bougainville.  But the problem is that Bougainville is not an independent state.

Barry Webb, King David Peii’s royal money-launderer

Bougainville is one of the largest islands in P.N.G., which won independence from Australia in 1975.  Geographically and culturally, it is part of the Solomon Islands, which was a separate administration in the days of British colonial rule.  At independence in 1975, Bougainvilleans tried to establish a separate Republic of North Solomons, which aimed eventually to unite with the not-yet-independent British Solomon Islands Protectorate to its east.  But the British Solomon Islanders were not interested, and after six months Bougainville agreed to be part of P.N.G. on condition of enhanced autonomy.  Separatism reemerged in the 1980s, however, and in 1990 the Bougainville Interim Government (BIG) declared independence, igniting a civil war that lasted until 1997, killing over 20,000 people.  The last holdouts from the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (B.R.A.) did not surrender and formed a tiny encampment around the Panguna copper mine on Bougainville where the rebellion had begun.  This last separatist redoubt did not end until Francis Ona, a B.R.A. founder, who had crowned himself “King of Me’ekamui,” died in 2005.  Bougainvillean sovereigntists claim that Me’ekamui and Paapala are the two kingdoms that traditionally rule the island; others claim they are smaller traditional polities for the area around Tonu.

Bougainvilleans celebrate independence day

The apparent author of Webb’s job-offer letter, King David Peii II, is in fact, Noah Musingku, who was a self-styled monarch of Paapala alongside his ally Ona during the 1990-97 war.  In the late 1990s, Musingku launched an elaborate investment scheme called U-Vistract, established first as part of a Christian mission in Australia.  But Australian authorities arrested Musingku for running what they called a Ponzi scheme.  Musingku now runs an operation in Tonu which is half investment scam and half Pentecostal mission, staffed by mercenaries from Fiji.

King David Peii II

P.N.G.’s own official central bank is not amused; their currency is also called the kina.   The bank’s governor, Loi Bakani, said, “The money is illegal.  If you look at the 100 Bougainville kina note, it has the kina name on it but different features and pictures, therefore it is illegal.  Also the legal tender is in Papua New Guinea kina and the change of the design also has its own penalties.”

Their currency looks pretty slick and professional.
But the same cannot be said of all of Bougainville’s trappings of state.

Webb—whose Google+ page identifies him as a Duquesne University graduate living in Clearwater, Florida—has been in touch with the U.S. consulate in P.N.G.  Webb’s rap sheet in Florida includes criminal charges for running real-estate and personal-loan schemes.  It is not clear whether there is much Washington can do for him.

Is this what you want to see on the résumé
for a candidate for Minister of International Monetary Relations?

Separatist sentiment is high in Bougainville, but it is not clear how much faith the general population there has in King David Peii II.  A binding referendum on independence has been promised by the P.N.G. government for some time before 2021.  It will probably pass.  But the fledgling nation will do well to clean up its act a bit when it comes to financial dealings if they want to have a viable state.

Not ready for prime time: King David inspecting his troops

[You can read more about Bougainville and many other separatist and new-nation movements, both famous and obscure, in my new book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas just published by Litwin Books under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements and Aspirant Nations, from Abkhazia to Zanzibar.  The book, which contains 46 maps and 554 flags (or, more accurately, 554 flag images), is available for order now on Amazon.  Meanwhile, please “like” the book (even if you haven’t read it yet) on Facebook and see this interview for more information on the book.]

Kosovo Recognized by Timor-Leste, K.L.A. War-Crimes Arrests, an E.U. Ultimatum, and Hashim Thaçi’s Underground Sex Slaves: Kosovo Update, 11-17 November 2012

European Parliament Says Serbia Cannot Join without Recognizing Kosovo.  The European Parliament’s rapporteur for Kosovo, Ulrike Lunacek, said this week that the Republic of Serbia will not be allowed to join the European Union (E.U.) unless it grants diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Kosovo, the de facto independent state which most E.U. member states recognize but which Serbia still regards as part of its territory.  She did not express the ultimatum as a punishment for Serbia, saying, “The E.U. will not allow another Cyprus in the E.U.  The E.U. will not accept any country without defined borders.”  Lunacek, who represents Austria in the E.P. for the Green Party, also ruled out any partition of Kosovo.

Timor-Leste Becomes 94th Nation to Recognize Kosovo.  The partially recognized Republic of Kosovo received notice this week from one of the world’s youngest United Nations (U.N.) member states, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, that it will be extending diplomatic recognition to Kosovo.  Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor), which became independent in 2002 after a U.N.-sponsored plebiscite end military occupation by Indonesia, is, at my count, the 94th nation, out of about 193 recognized sovereign states, to recognize Kosovo, following Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Burundi in October (as reported last month in this blog, at which point I also discussed some discrepancies over how to count Kosovo’s diplomatic partners).

Timor-Leste, a.k.a. East Timor, is Kosovo’s newest diplomatic partner.

E.U. Arrests 3 Former Kosovo Rebels on War-Crimes Charges.  Three former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (K.L.A.), two of them currently serving in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Kosovo Security Force (K.S.F.), were arrested this week by European Union (E.U.) police on war-crimes charges.  Reports indicate that the murder of two ethnic-Albanian supporters of the moderate politician Ibrahim Rugova in 1999.  The arrests were made by the E.U. Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (Eulex).

E.U. Lays Corruption Charges against 7 Kosovars, Including Former Transport Minister.  The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (Eulex) announced November 16th it had charged the Republic of Kosovo’s former minister of transport and communications and six other Kosovar Albanians with corruption.  The former minister, Fatmir Limaj, is the second-in-command in the Democratic Party (P.D.K.), Kosovo’s ruling party.  Charges against the seven include “manipulating tender procedures, giving and receiving bribes, and obstructing evidence.”

Fatmir Limaj

Slav Media Run Lurid Tales of Kosovo Prime Minister’s Underground Harem.  The organ-harvesting allegations (a hospital in the Netherlands was tapped by Interpol this week to investigate accusations of organ-trafficking by Kosovo rebels in the 1990s) don’t seem to be enough.  Several newspapers in the Balkans this week are running reports on interviews with a woman from Ukraine identified only as “N.M.” who describes escaping from what she calls an underground “hell hole” in which the prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, operates a “harem” with 52 sex slaves.  “None of the girls were from Kosovo,” N.M. said; “there were few from the Balkans, about ten from Russia, one from Cameroon, two Chinese women, etc.”  Many of the men who visit the harem for “orgies” “are foreign diplomats,” she said, “including officers from Eulex and KFOR.  The girls are not allowed to say, ‘No.’  One of the girls called Dolores from Colombia protested the conditions during our lunch time in the cafeteria.  She was shot dead by Thaci’s bodyguards.”  N.M. says she escaped with the assistance of a bodyguard from Chechnya, whom she had to bribe with sexual favors.  That’s all pretty good, but the lack of any reference to the ceremonial drinking of the blood of Serbian babies represents a disappointing decline in the literary quality of Serbian propaganda.

2 Serbs Ambushed in Kosovo; Grenade Attack on Serb Apartment Building.  Two Serbs were ambushed in their car in a village in western Kosovo’s Istok municipality on November 10th by an unknown gunman in a balaclava.  One of the two men, Momir Pantić, a former local police chief, was wounded in the arm and face.  Pantić owns land on Osojane, a Serb enclave in Istok, which is outside the Serb-governed North Kosovo territory along the republic’s border with the Republic of Serbia.  He said he had been followed all that day by unknown persons.  The mayor of Kosovoska Mitrovica, North Kosovo’s de facto capital, called Pantić an internally displaced person and said that the ambush was evidence that Serbs are not safe in Kosovo.  In the evening of the next day, November 11th, a hand grenade went off in front of a Serb-populated apartment building in Kosovska Mitrovica, which caused damage to the building and nearby vehicles but no injuries.

[Also, for those who are wondering, yes, this blog is tied in with a forthcoming book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas to be published by Auslander and Fox under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements, Independence Struggles, Breakaway Republics, Rebel Provinces, Pseudostates, Puppet States, Tribal Fiefdoms, Micronations, and Do-It-Yourself Countries, from Chiapas to Chechnya and Tibet to Texas.  Look for it in spring 2013.  I will be keeping readers posted of further publication news.]

Breaking News: Papua New Guinea Becomes 93rd Nation to Recognize Kosovo

On October 3rd, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea became the 93rd nation (out of 193 or so, depending on how one counts them) to extend diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Kosovo.  [See special note at the end of this article as to whether Papua New Guinea or Burundi is no. 93.]

Kosovo is not a United Nations member state and is still claimed by the Republic of Serbia as part of its territory.  It declared independence unilaterally in 2008 under North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) protection.

In addition to the 93 fully recognized states, Kosovo is also recognized by the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Central Tibetan Administration (government-in-exile in India) (but not by the People’s Republic of China), the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (government-in-exile in London) (but not by the Russian Federation), the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (but not by India), and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (but not by Ukraine).

States which recognize the Republic of Kosovo are shown in green.

U.N. Security Council permanent-member veto powers wielded by Russia and China prevent Kosovo’s admission to the General Assembly. 

[Special note (written Oct. 29, 2012): As of October 16, 2012, when the Republic of Burundi extended diplomatic recognition to Kosovo (as reported in this blog), it, too, was announced as the “93rd” nation to do so.  Though I cannot at this point go back and find my precise source, with a count, for calling Papua New Guinea the 93rd, I conjecture that the discrepancy arose because the Republic of Nigeria was for a time presumed to have recognized Kosovo until issuing a denial in September 2012.]

[Also, for those who are wondering, yes, this blog is tied in with a forthcoming book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas to be published by Auslander and Fox under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements, Independence Struggles, Breakaway Republics, Rebel Provinces, Pseudostates, Puppet States, Tribal Fiefdoms, Micronations, and Do-It-Yourself Countries, from Chiapas to Chechnya and Tibet to Texas.  Look for it in spring 2013.  I will be keeping readers posted of further publication news.]