ABC AUSTRALIA, 29/09/2005 5:15:41 PM AEST
Indonesia's defence minister denies new troop deployment in
Papua
Indonesia's defence minister, Juwono Sudarsono, has denied media reports that
Indonesia's National Defence Forces have deployed a large number of military
personnel to Papua province.
Mr Juwono says it is simply a routine rotation of troops in the troubled province.
Addressing a hearing of the House of Representatives commission on defence and
foreign affairs, he said there had been many untrue reports on the matter from local
and foreign media.
Antara News reports Mr Juwono was responding to a question from a commission
member about reports that troop withdrawals from Aceh had been followed by secret
deployment of more forces to Papua.
Shidki Wahab said deployment of troops to a region with a different culture held out
the risk of human right abuses as had happened in Aceh in the past.
"Such a situation should not happen in Papua," he said.
© ABC 2005 |
