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By 1988, and for several years prior, the French overseas territory of New Caledonia had been shaken by a series of clashes between supporters and opponents of independence. On April 22, the crisis culminated in the hostage taking of 27 police officers (gendarmes), detained on the island of Ouvea by independence activists. On May 5, a special commando unit of the National Gendarmerie engaged in an assault, releasing the hostages, but at the cost of 21 casualties. New Caledonia was on the brink of civil war. Prime Minister Michel Rocard dispatched a team of mediators to the area, coordinated by Christian Blanc. This team was composed of different mediators with complementary profiles (legal, administrative, spiritual leaders). They engaged and listened carefully to representatives from the different ethnic groups of New Caledonia. They succeeded in bringing the parties together and convening a negotiation which successfully ended with the Matignon Agreement on 26 June 1988.

Whatever the outcome, these official yet ad hoc mediators halt their mission once the problem has been resolved, or the stalemate has been confirmed.