Explosives found near Freeport

SORONG, Papua: The Sorong military chief Col. M.R. Saragih said on Tuesday that a joint patrol had found explosives at the entrance to the P.T. Freeport gold mine.

However, he did not reveal when the explosives were found or the quantity involved.

He said the military was leaving it to the police to conduct a probe into the deadly ambush on Freeport employees on Aug. 31, which killed two Americans and one Indonesian, and left several others injured.

Saragih denied suggestions that the Army was behind the deadly ambush. "This issue has been engineered to tarnish the Army's good name," he said. Army troops are guarding Freeport's operations.

He claimed that some separatist groups lived in the jungles around the mine and that locals supplied them with food. The groups were led by Kelly Kwalik, Daniel Kogoya, and Titus Murib, he said. --Antara