Combat troops pulled out from Timika

Combat troops pulled out from Timika

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces has withdrawn 270 combat troops
from the Irian Jaya regency of Timika where one person was killed
and five others went missing during recent pro-independence
demonstrations.

The troops left Timika -- where operations of the giant
American copper and gold mining company, PT Freeport Indonesia
are sited -- on Monday and arrived in the Irianese capital of
Jayapura later that same day, a spokesman for the Trikora
Regional Military Command said.

Antara said the withdrawal came as the result of a promise
made by Trikora Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Amir
Sembiring, who said last week that ABRI was changing its approach
in the country's easternmost province. He said that where once
the military carried weapons, they would now wield ploughs to
help residents cultivate crops and improve their welfare.

Sembiring said this had become possible because of the
relative improvement in security in the region.

The military said the troops would be given a week to adapt to
their new posting before being assigned to villages in Jayapura
regency and Jayapura municipality to carry out public services.

They will no longer be assigned to protect the area from armed
rebels known as wild security disturbance groups (GPL) but will
live together with villagers to help develop the rural economy as
part of broader efforts to improve their welfare, the spokesman
said.

Meanwhile, a group of rights activists said they had begun
looking into the arrest of 10 local people allegedly involved in
pro-independence demonstrations in Wamena on July 2. The 10 were
said to be have taken part in the hoisting of the outlawed West
Papua flag, according to Tulus Wahyono from the Legal Aid
Institute.

Tulus said his office had received reports from local people
that security forces arrested 35 people from Aug. 6-10, 10 of
whom were detained by the Wamena Police.

The 10, he said, include retired local government employees,
airline company employees, an elementary school teacher and a
number of unemployed people.

Jayawijaya Police chief Lt. Col. Ipong S. has confirmed that a
number of people were arrested but refused to reveal their
identities or explain why they had been detained.

When asked by Antara about this, Irian Jaya Police chief Brig.
Gen. Hotman Siagian said he had not yet received a report on the
matter. (swe)