Army on standby after PNG rioting

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea -- Papua New Guinea's army is on alert overnight after student protests degenerated into violence in which three people were shot dead and 13 injured.

Acting police commissioner Joseph Kupo told reporters he had met the country's army commander and agreed on a call-out order for the military if the situation deteriorates.

"The army is on standby," Kupo said on Tuesday.

Police used teargas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators outside Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta's office and in a separate incident fired warning shots in the air.

"We now have three confirmed dead from gunshots to the abdominal region and head," Dr Chris Marjen, chief executive of the Port Moresby General Hospital, told Reuters.

Police denied they were responsible for the deaths.

"Police have received information about students being shot but we don't think it was by our men," deputy commissioner of operations Sam Inguba told Kalang National Radio.

The government district of the city looked like a battleground, with streets strewn with rocks, warehouses looted and cars and shops burnt, said an Australian journalist who flew over the area in a helicopter.

Radio warned residents to stay at home because of the looting by street gangs taking advantage of the unrest.

With transport in the city severely disrupted, hospitals were working with understaffed crews.

"Today was a sad day for the country as criminals . . . took advantage of the opportunity to cause massive destruction to properties in the city," Kupo said.

Political and economic chaos

The former Australian colony has been plagued by political and economic chaos since independence in 1975.

Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta's economic reforms and privatizations, backed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, are aimed at getting the resource-rich but impoverished South Pacific nation back on an even economic keel.

But opposition to the reforms, based on nationalist fears the country will be sold to foreigners and on fears of job losses if state firms are sold, has mounted since soldiers staged a 12-day mutiny in May over reports the armed forces would be slashed.

Shops, schools and government offices were closed on Tuesday and the streets of the capital deserted, except for some students, police and roaming gangs.

Roadblocks at one stage cut off the airport, but air services continued.

Trade unions, which were not part of the student protest but are opposed to privatization, called for Morauta to step down.

Unions threatened to close ports, shut down the national flag carrier Air Nuigini and disrupt power supplies.

Appeal for calm

A spokesman for Morauta called for calm late on Tuesday.

"I appeal for calm in the city. I also appeal to the media not to report rumors that may be spreading because these are intended to inflame the present situation," he said.

Local reporters on the streets after dark said Port Moresby was quiet with students back on campus, but feared more trouble overnight if gangs get drunk.

Peaceful protests against the World Bank and IMF economic program began last Thursday.

Joined by the public, 2,000 students protested outside the prime minister's office on Monday, calling on him to dump the reforms and to expel the multilateral agencies.

While most protesters dispersed after handing in a petition for the prime minister, a number stayed behind.

When they refused police orders to move off early on Tuesday, police fired teargas.

Police reinforcements were due to fly to Port Moresby from the neighboring island of Rabaul on Tuesday, police said.

Australia said the situation was very tense and warned its citizens to minimize travel around the capital.