26 people killed as Wamena's worst riots

26 people killed as Wamena's worst riots

JAKARTA (JP): At least 26 people were killed and scores of
others seriously wounded in a rampage by proindependence
supporters in the Irian Jaya town of Wamena, police said on
Saturday.

Sources at the Wamena hospital put the number of fatalities at
30, with 45 others injured, as of Saturday afternoon, Antara
reported.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told The
Jakarta Post the mountain town of Wamena, some 290 kilometers
southwest of the provincial capital of Jayapura, remained tense
on Saturday afternoon following attacks by a horde of
proindependence civilian guards known as Satgas Papua on migrant
settlers, which left 20 killed.

"The Satgas Papua members have set fire to homes, raped women
and then murdered them. They also burned some people alive,"
Saleh said.

Police shot dead four proindependence supporters in a gunfight
which followed an attempt by around 2,000 armed proindependence
supporters from the Wo and Kluru villages to besiege Jayawijaya
Police Precinct in downtown Wamena, he said.

Eight police officers were injured in the clash and were
rushed to Marthen Indey Indonesian Military (TNI) Hospital in
Jayapura.

The riot first erupted on Friday as security troops tried to
pull down seven separatist "Morning Star" flags. Two
proindependence supporters were killed in the stampede.

The proindependence supporters eventually dispersed on
Saturday afternoon after hours of gunfights, but security forces
there remained on alert in anticipation of a possible return,
Saleh said.

"We have raised the security status to a red alert in the area
as we continue the quell rioters and protect the migrants," Saleh
said in a telephone interview from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. He
was attending the swearing-in ceremony of the provincial police
chief.

National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro has given a shoot-
on-sight order to stop the rioters, Saleh said.

A battalion of Mobile Brigade police reinforcement troops has
been sent to Wamena to restore order in cooperation with the
existing military.

"Police and military officers are evacuating hundreds of
migrants to the Wamena police precinct, the military district
command and the Telkom office," he said, adding that the troops
have also stepped up security measures to protect paramedics.

A Hercules aircraft was dispatched to help the evacuation.

Arrest

Local police have so far arrested 59 suspects for allegedly
masterminding the riot.

"Most of them were caught in the fray. We are still chasing
other rioters and it is possible that the number of suspects will
increase," Saleh said.

Head of Christian Injili Synode Church Rev. Herman Saud told
Antara that proindependence Papua Presidium Board (PDP) chief
Theys Hiyo Eluay must be held accountable for the incident since
it was the PDP which issued an order to hoist the Morning Star
flag.

Jayawijaya Police chief Supt. D. Suripatty was quoted by
Antara on Saturday as saying that the suspects were undergoing
intensive questioning.

Suripatty added a group of proindependence supporters held
hostage 20 employees of Honay Resort Hotel during the riot.
Negotiations to release the hotel employees were still underway.

The news agency also quoted witnesses as saying that the
victims, mostly migrant settlers, were shot dead, beheaded,
burned alive or shot with arrows. They said the attackers also
killed children.

"Satgas Papua even burned a house with people in it. They also
looted houses abandoned by their dwellers," a local witness said.

Wamena Hospital chief Siwi Murniati said all fatalities were
being kept in the hospital, awaiting a mass funeral slated to be
held on Sunday.

"Some victims are difficult to identify because they were
badly burned," Siwi said.

Terrified paramedics, however, started to flee Wamena due to a
lack of security assurance from the police and threats from
locals.

In Jayapura, hundreds of students from Cendrawasih University
set up a roadblock on the road linking Jayapura to Sentani in
protest against Friday's incident. The protesters burned used
tires and laid electricity poles and logs across the streets,
causing traffic congestion.

Police dispersed the crowd after six hours of rallying. (edt)