A state funeral has been held in Papua New Guinea for the first president of the autonomous region of Bougainville, Joseph Kabui.

Mourners packed the cathedral in Port Moresby to honour Mr Kabui, 54, who died on Saturday of a heart attack.

Regional leaders have paid tribute to the late president, who helped end years of conflict in Bougainville.

Separatist groups battled PNG government troops there until a UN-brokered settlement in 2001.

Autonomy deal
Bougainville is an island off the eastern tip of PNG.

In 1989 a dispute between local people and a mining company over alleged environmental damage escalated into a brutal war of independence.

Separatist rebels fought PNG soldiers and foreign mercenaries for almost a decade. Thousands of people are thought to have died.

Under a UN-brokered deal signed in August 2001, the two sides agreed that Bougainville should have greater self-government and eventually a referendum on independence, within 10 to 15 years.

Mr Kabui, a former separatist leader, became president in the first elections to be held on the island in June 2005.

In a statement, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said that Mr Kabui had played a “key role in restoring Bougainville to peace following the bitter conflict on the island”.

“He played a central part in reconciliation between the rival groups on Bougainville and in peace negotiations with the government of Papua New Guinea,” his statement said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, described Mr Kabui as a “skilled mediator and peacemaker who had a genuine interest in the future of his people”.

Lawmaker John Tabinaman has been named as acting president until polls are held, PNG daily The National said.