Irian tribal leader not abducted: Community leader

JAKARTA (JP): A community leader from Irian Jaya yesterday denied news reports that Amungme chief Tom Beanal, who is suing Freeport McMoRan Inc. for US$ 6 billion, had been abducted.

Rev. Nato Gobai of the Three Kings Church in Timika told The Jakarta Post yesterday that Tom Beanal was safe and sound at his home.

"I have no idea why Tom was reportedly abducted," he said.

Media Indonesia daily yesterday reported that Tom Beanal had been abducted by several tribal leaders. Tom could not be reached for comment.

The law suit, filed at a U.S. District Court in New Orleans, accuses Freeport of engaging in "eco-terrorism", "cultural genocide", corporate policies that led to violations of tribal people's rights and environmental destruction of tribal resources.

The complaint was filed against Freeport under a United States federal law which allows foreigners to bring cases involving international law to U.S. courts.

Freeport has proposed to give the community, whose land is being mined, US$ 500,000 in compensation a year, about 1 percent of Freeport's yearly revenue.

Freeport has proposed to set up a US$ 15 million trust which would grant local people compensation over the next ten years; this offer was turned down by the seven affected tribes earlier this month.

About 3,000 people protested in Timika on Friday, demanding that government officials and several individuals return the funds they had received from Freeport, Nato said.

"The tribes had rejected the money settlement while those people, claiming to represent the tribes, accepted the money," he said.

The tribes gave the relevant parties three days from Friday to return the money.

"No violence occurred during the protest, although the crowd originally intended to set the Sheraton hotel on fire," Nato said. It has been reported that Nato helped stopped the angry crowd becoming violent.

Nato denied reports that some of the tribesmen were about to wage war among themselves.

Nato also said that between 1,300 and 1,400 people had signed a petition against the compensation package. The petition has been sent to New Orleans.

PT Freeport Indonesia's mine in Timika, Irian Jaya, sits on one of the largest known gold and copper reserves in the world.

Freeport Indonesia is 82 percent owned by Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., an affiliate of Freeport McMoRan of the United States. The Indonesian government and a private company, PT Indocopper Investama, each own 9 percent of the company. (14)