Police hunt Papua shooters

Last Updated: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:19:00 +1100


Indonesian police are hunting gunmen responsible for a shooting near the Freeport mine in Indonesia's majority-Melanesian Papua province.

Nine people were injured in the attack -- the latest in a series of violent incidents near the mine.

Authorities are blaming independence fighters, and police had hoped the death of Papuan rebel leader Kelly Kwalik last month would improve security in the area.

But observer Peter King, convenor of the West Papua Project at Sydney University, told Radio Australia's Pacifc Beat program, it's not independence fightlers like the OPM that are responsible for the violence, but rather the police and military who he says are engaged in a turf war to provide security for the mine.

"The evdience is simply that the OPM has never had the military capacity which has been shown by these ambush attacks," he said.

"It's also clear that the arrests that have been made of Papuans have done nothing to stop the attacks. Without trouble in West Papua, the military has difficulty to justify the large presence that it does have with thousands of troops on the ground."
Attempts by Pacific Beat to contact Indonesian police and military for comment were unsuccessful.