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| Southeast Asia |
| More Papua Shootings, Gunman Killed |
| 2002-09-01 |
| Indonesian forces clashed with gunmen and killed a suspected rebel in Papua province Sunday (1/9/02) a day after two American schoolteachers and an Indonesian were shot dead. Provincial police chief Brigadier General I Made Pastika was quoted by the Associated Press as saying a soldier was wounded in the shootout. Both incidents occurred near PT Freeport Indonesia’s vast copper and gold mine in the hinterlands of the province. Indonesian Defense Forces commander General Endriartono Sudarto on Sunday flew to Timika, the nearest town to the mine, for talks with local military chiefs. Provincial military chief Major General Mahidin Simbolon said troops had found used cartridges at the site of the killings from weapons including M-16 rifles and guns that were standard issue for the Indonesian military in the 1970s. He strongly denied the military or police were in any way behind the murders. Eight of the wounded had been flown to the Australian city of Townsville for emergency medical treatment. Six were in a stable condition on Sunday. Among the eight was a 6-year-old girl. It'll be interesting to learn a little more about who dunnit. Papua's mostly Christian and the rebellion against Indonesia |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |