DATE=2/29/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA / IRIAN JAYA (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259658
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Even as Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid was
visiting East Timor Tuesday, unrest was reported in another
trouble spot. Fresh clashes broke out between separatists
and Indonesian police in the far province of Irian Jaya.
As VOA Southeast Asia correspondent Gary Thomas reports,
guerrillas there have been emboldened by East Timor's
successful separation from Indonesia.
TEXT: One person was killed and several others wounded in
a clash between separatists and police in Irian Jaya, also
known as West Papua. But there are differing accounts of
what occurred Monday night in the coastal town of Nabire,
some 32-hundred kilometers east of Jakarta.
Police said a mob armed with arrows, sticks, and knives
attacked a police post in the town. Two of the attackers
were wounded and one of them died in the hospital. Police
said they fired warning shots but deny they were
responsible for any casualties. Officials say a policeman
was wounded by an arrow.
But local journalists quote eyewitnesses as saying the
trouble erupted when police tried to lower a separatist
flag. They say the police opened fire on the crowd.
Whatever the truth of Monday's incident, the flag of the
separatist Free Papua Movement has been raised with more
frequency recently, sparking sometimes violent protests.
Analysts say the separatist movement has been reinvigorated
by events in East Timor.
East Timor separated from Indonesia last year in a
referendum marked by a spasm of violence by militias
opposed to independence. A new Jakarta government offered
the referendum after the military was unable to suppress
pro-independence guerrillas.
Irian Jaya is, along with Aceh, one of Jakarta's separatist
headaches. During the 32 years of former President
Suharto's rule, the Indonesian military also tried to
suppress the independence movement there. But, as in East
Timor, the military's conduct gave rise to widespread
allegations of torture and other human rights abuses.
Irian Jaya is also, quite literally, a gold mine for
Indonesia. It is home to the world's richest gold mine, as
well as vast copper deposits, together believed to be worth
some 40 billion dollars. The mines are predominantly owned
by the U-S-based Freeport Company and the British R-T-Z
company. The central government holds 20 per cent of the
That makes Indonesia very reluctant to grant Irian Jaya the
same offer as it did to East Timor.
President Wahid has been trying to mend fences (smooth
relations with the province). He visited the capital,
Jayapura, December 31st and offered to hold talks on revenue
sharing and autonomy - but ruled out independence. And in
a symbolic move, he changed the name from Irian Jaya to the
more politically acceptable West Papua. But there is no
sign yet of any breakthrough. (Signed)
NEB/GPT/KL
29-Feb-2000 08:09 AM EDT (29-Feb-2000 1309 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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