One killed in protests over Papua divsion
One killed in protests over Papua divsion
Agencies, Jakarta
Protesters clashed with supporters of a new province in
Indonesia's troubled Papua island on Sunday, leaving one person
dead, a news report said.
The clash occurred when about 100 people attacked the office
of the newly created government of Central Irian Jaya, local
police chief Lt. Col. Paulus Waterpaw told the private El Shinta
radio.
He said one person died in the melee in Timika.
Meanwhile, AFP reported earlier that, hundreds of people
clashed on the street of Timika in the second brawl to take place
following the inauguration of a new province there a day earlier.
Some 400 people opposed to the new Central Irian Jaya province
as part of a move to split Papua into three, attacked more than
100 pro-province supporters guarding the new governor's office in
the town of Timika, police said.
"The violence took some 156 minutes with both sides throwing
rocks at each other," said Second Sergeant Kenneth of the
district police in Timika.
He said that a few people were injured, including a local
parliamentarian, but he could not give any figure.
But he said no one had been arrested following the incident.
Yance, a doctor on duty at the Timika general hospital said
three people were treated for injuries sustained from stone
throwing and later discharged.
The clash followed protests Saturday when some 500 supporters
of the new province were attacked by 200 opponents as they
paraded through Timika.
It was the second day of protests against the creation of
Central Papua -- the island's third province -- a move that Papua
Governor Jaap Salosa and others have criticized as a ploy by the
central government to undercut the island's autonomy.
On Saturday police fired warning shots to disperse more than
2,000 stone-throwing protesters who tried to attack the ceremony
establishing Central Irian Jaya.
Indonesia recently carved Papua, which borders independent
Papua New Guinea, into the provinces of West Irian Jaya, Central
Irian Jaya and Papua.
In 2000, Indonesia passed legislation granting Papua greater
autonomy and a larger slice of revenues from its existing gas and
oil fields to defuse separatist sentiments.
New Orleans-based Freeport McMoRan Copper-and-Gold Inc.
operates a massive copper and gold mine in the mountains above
Timika.
Indonesia took over Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, from the Dutch
in 1963. Its sovereignty over the region was formalized in 1969
through a U.N.-sponsored vote by traditional leaders. Rights
groups and independence activists have claimed for years that the
ballot was a sham.
A small band of separatist rebels, known as Free Papua
Organization has since waged a largely ineffective insurgency
against Jakarta's rule.