Francis Ona refused to play any part in the peace process, and, with a small minority of fighters, continued to occupy the area around Panguna mine . Throughout the decade, Ona continued to resist overtures to participate in the new government, declaring himself 'king' of Bougainville before dying of malaria in 2005. In March 2005, Dr Shaista Shameem of the United Nations working group on mercenaries asked Fiji and Papua New Guinea for permission to send a team to investigate the presence of former Fijian soldiers in Bougainville. (UNPO) As part of the current peace settlement, a referendum on independence was to be held sometime in the 2010s, with an apparent small minority of fighters left in the centre of the island, and enough instability to ensure that the mine remained closed.