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Troops
Kill Papuan Rebels
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Laksamana.Net
May
16, 2003
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Troops Kill Papuan Rebels
May
16, 2003 20:2:0
Laksamana.Net -
Indonesian troops have shot dead two suspected separatist rebels
in Papua province, raising fears the Free Papua Organization (OPM)
will be the government’s next target after its cracks down on
rebels in Aceh province.
The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) on Friday (16/5/03) said the
suspected OPM members were killed in separate clashes on Wednesday
and Thursday in Koyawage forest in Papua’s Central Highlands.
Papua Military Command chief Major General Nurdin Zainal said one
of the slain rebels was believed to be an OPM commander.
"Based on a red scarf tied to the rifle – a symbol of a
commander – we believe that one of them is a high-ranking
officer," he was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
He said soldiers recovered a stolen M-16 automatic rifle during
one of the skirmishes. The weapon was reportedly one of 29
firearms stolen in a raid on a military munitions storehouse in
Wamena town on April 4.
Two soldiers and a suspected rebel were killed when a group of 15
armed men stole the guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition
from the arsenal.
TNI officials have said some soldiers are suspected of assisting
in the raid, which was reportedly conducted by an OPM splinter
group led by Titus Murib.
The poorly armed OPM has been fighting a sporadic war for
independence since Indonesia took control of predominantly
Christian Papua in 1963.
Papuans in Jakarta have expressed concern the government’s
looming military offensive against rebels in Aceh province could
signal that Papua will be the next target.
“We are not Aceh, but we share their dream to be free,” a
Papuan who did not wish to be identified told Laksamana.net on
Thursday.
“We want freedom. We are not Indonesian. We want the military to
stop killing,” he added.
Analysts say President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s government may
consider launching a severe crackdown against the OPM as part of
the campaign to eradicate the archipelago’s separatist
movements.
The government is upset by a political movement of Papuan leaders
– the Papua Presidium Council – seeking independence through
peaceful means.
The Council’s original leader, Theys Hiyo Eluay, was murdered by
the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) in November 2001.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior researcher at the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences, says the present international climate
“seems to give more leeway to a military solution”.
"Of course the issues of Papua and Aceh are different but the
mood of the government and the mood of the country at the moment
is much less tolerant toward separatist movements," she was
quoted as saying by Reuters on Tuesday.
The International Crisis Group has also said that any major
offensive against Aceh’s rebel movement would give impetus to
efforts to crush the OPM.
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