James Nesbitt’s meddling on Bougainville has been blamed for a wave of mass hysteria resulting in excited crowds flocking to an abandoned airport expecting Her Majesty to land. The traveller was last seen two weeks ago, apparently stuck in a remote no-go zone which has been thrown into disarray by the suspicious death of a rebel leader.

The setting for this Indiana Jones-style adventure is an island in the far eastern edge of Papua New Guinea between the Solomon Sea and the Pacific. Bougainville was once home to one of the world’s most prolific gold and copper mines, abandoned in the 1980s after a campaign of sabotage by guerrillas armed with bows, arrows and spears. Natives still pan for gold and legend has it that a hoard of ingots is hidden somewhere in this volcanic land.

Mr Nesbitt made an illicit landing in a Cessna aircraft near the former Panguna copper mine on September 30 last year. The aircraft’s owner and pilot, from Australia, were fined £60,000 by a court in Papua New Guinea for the unauthorised trip.

The Briton’s arrival, with Jeff Richards, an Australian, could hardly have come at a more sensitive time. Bougainville, watched by a special United Nations mission, was preparing for elections to give the island some autonomy. The poll was part of a peace deal ending a civil war that cost 10,000 lives and closed down the mine.

The colourful figure of Francis Ona, a rebel leader and notorious saboteur, was boycotting the elections, threatening their success. Mr Nesbitt and his Australian companion disappeared into the jungle, heading for a no-go zone controlled by Mr Ona’s militia, the Meekamui Defence Force. Odd pledges emerged. The militia issued a statement claiming that the men were on a humanitarian mission. The rebels claimed that “Lord James Rex Nesbitt” and “Prince Jeffrey Richards ” were arranging for the UN to recognise their kingdom.

It was announced that the Queen, whose representative was “Lord Nesbitt”, would attend an independence ceremony in the village of Mr Ona, the area’s self-proclaimed king.

The authorities tried to calm the people. David Gordon-McLeod, the High Commissioner, issued a public statement saying that Mr Nesbitt “does not represent the British Government”. A joint statement from Bougainville’s Governor and the main party leader said: “Stories went out in Central Bougainville that the Queen was coming to Guava. Lots of people spent the weekend before at the airport, waiting for the Queen. They waited without result and left in anger and frustration.”

President Bush was also expected, to be followed by jet aircraft, submarines and ships laden with money.

The June elections were a success. But the island’s future has been shaken by the death of Mr Ona, a robust 52-year-old, on July 24, supposedly from a one-man outbreak of typhoid. Rebels refused to release his body for a postmortem examination and the funeral was marred when a man was reportedly tied up for “using sorcery to kill him”.

The death of Mr Ona sent shares in Bougainville Copper, which owns the mine, soaring more than 20 per cent. Rio Tinto, which owns the company, said: “This was sheer speculative buying which we had no control over. The mine has been closed since the 1980s and we have no access to it. It is a dormant project sitting on our books. There is absolutely no consideration at the moment of the mine being reopened. We have no knowledge of the activities of the two men you mention.”

How “Lord Nesbitt” will leave Bougainville is uncertain since no aircraft may land to rescue him without permission. Police have been told to arrest him on sight.

The Foreign Office told The Times: “Mr Nesbitt is mischief-making. Until such time as he becomes a consular case, that’s as far as it goes.”

• Do you know Mr Nesbitt? E-mail david.brown@thetimes.co.uk

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