One shot dead as police open fire in Irian violence<\/p>\n
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): One man was killed when police
\nopened fire on mobs attacking a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police
\nheadquarters in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya, police
\nsaid on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Some 50 residents of Nabire, 560 kilometers west of the
\nprovincial capital of Jayapura, many armed with arrows, swords
\nand spears, attacked the headquarters late on Monday afternoon,
\nAntara quoted local police chief Lt. Col. Faisal A.N. as saying.<\/p>\n
The Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (IHRSTAD)
\nidentified the casualty as Manase Erary, 28, a student at the
\nlocal Public Administration Institute, who died when Brimob
\ntroops opened fire to stop the mobs from entering their compound.<\/p>\n
IHRSTAD's executive director, Aloysius Renrawin, told The
\nJakarta Post on Tuesday that the latest violence followed a
\nweapons sweep by Brimob troops against the proindependence
\nsupporters who were heading home in the Karang Tumaritis
\ndistrict. The group carried the Morning Star rebel flag.<\/p>\n
"Manase was shot when he was trying to calm the two warring
\ngroups," Aloysius said.<\/p>\n
Faisal said five men in the crowd, who claimed to be members
\nof the Papua Task Force, were arrested following the attack.<\/p>\n
He denied, however, that Manase was killed by Brimob troops,
\nsaying the autopsy showed the protester was killed by a hunting
\nrifle bullet, which is not used by Brimob.<\/p>\n
One Brimob officer also suffered a serious stomach injury
\nafter he was hit by an arrow, Faisal said, adding that another
\nprotester had been shot in the legs.<\/p>\n
IHRSTAD activists said six other civilians suffered gunshot
\nwounds in the clash.<\/p>\n
Tension continued to grip the small town on Tuesday, with many
\nshops seen closed and people refraining themselves from outdoor
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, nine policemen were injured and three
\nresidents suffered gunshot wounds when police opened fire during
\nsimilar attacks on the local state radio station RRI and a police
\noffice in Merauke.<\/p>\n
In late January an RRI station was also vandalized in the
\nIrian Jaya town of Fakfak, because the station referred to the
\nprovince as Irian Jaya rather than Papua.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid recently restored the province's
\nold name of Papua to appease people opposed to the Indonesian-
\ngiven name of Irian Jaya. The House of Representatives has yet to
\napprove the change.<\/p>\n
Calls for an independent West Papua state in Irian Jaya have
\nbeen on the rise since the fall of former president Soeharto in
\nMay 1998.<\/p>\n
On Saturday 500 people attending the first Papuan Congress
\nrenewed the independence demand and rejected the 1969 plebiscite
\nthat incorporated the territory into Indonesia. (eba)<\/p>",
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