One shot dead as police open fire in Irian violence

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): One man was killed when police opened fire on mobs attacking a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police headquarters in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya, police said on Tuesday.

Some 50 residents of Nabire, 560 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Jayapura, many armed with arrows, swords and spears, attacked the headquarters late on Monday afternoon, Antara quoted local police chief Lt. Col. Faisal A.N. as saying.

The Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (IHRSTAD) identified the casualty as Manase Erary, 28, a student at the local Public Administration Institute, who died when Brimob troops opened fire to stop the mobs from entering their compound.

IHRSTAD's executive director, Aloysius Renrawin, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the latest violence followed a weapons sweep by Brimob troops against the proindependence supporters who were heading home in the Karang Tumaritis district. The group carried the Morning Star rebel flag.

"Manase was shot when he was trying to calm the two warring groups," Aloysius said.

Faisal said five men in the crowd, who claimed to be members of the Papua Task Force, were arrested following the attack.

He denied, however, that Manase was killed by Brimob troops, saying the autopsy showed the protester was killed by a hunting rifle bullet, which is not used by Brimob.

One Brimob officer also suffered a serious stomach injury after he was hit by an arrow, Faisal said, adding that another protester had been shot in the legs.

IHRSTAD activists said six other civilians suffered gunshot wounds in the clash.

Tension continued to grip the small town on Tuesday, with many shops seen closed and people refraining themselves from outdoor activities.

Earlier this month, nine policemen were injured and three residents suffered gunshot wounds when police opened fire during similar attacks on the local state radio station RRI and a police office in Merauke.

In late January an RRI station was also vandalized in the Irian Jaya town of Fakfak, because the station referred to the province as Irian Jaya rather than Papua.

President Abdurrahman Wahid recently restored the province's old name of Papua to appease people opposed to the Indonesian- given name of Irian Jaya. The House of Representatives has yet to approve the change.

Calls for an independent West Papua state in Irian Jaya have been on the rise since the fall of former president Soeharto in May 1998.

On Saturday 500 people attending the first Papuan Congress renewed the independence demand and rejected the 1969 plebiscite that incorporated the territory into Indonesia. (eba)