Editing Tim Spicer (section)

===Sandline affair===
{{Main|Sandline affair}}
The Sandline affair was a political scandal that became one of the defining moments in the [[history of Papua New Guinea]] (PNG), and particularly that of the conflict in [[Bougainville Province|Bougainville]]. It brought down the PNG government of [[Julius Chan|Sir Julius Chan]] and took [[Papua New Guinea]] to the verge of military revolt. After coming to power in 1994, Prime Minister Chan made repeated attempts to resolve the Bougainville conflict by diplomatic means. These were ultimately unsuccessful, due to the repeated failure of Bougainvillean leaders to arrive at scheduled peace talks.  

After a number of failed military assaults and the refusal of Australia and New Zealand to provide troops, a decision was then made to investigate the use of mercenaries. Through some overseas contacts, defence minister Mathias Ijape was put in contact with Spicer.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} He accepted a contract for $36&nbsp;million, but the deal fell through when the PNG Army found out that so much money was being spent on a job they claimed to be able to do.  The Army overthrew the PNG government and arrested Spicer.  He was eventually released and sued the PNG government for money not paid.<ref>"The Private war of Tumbledown Tim", ''London Sunday Times Magazine'', 2 July 2000.</ref>