REUTERS, Wednesday January 22, 2003 10:19 PM
INTERVIEW-Papua rebels say Jakarta aided Muslim militants
By Anna Peltola
MALMO, Sweden, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A Christian rebel group in Indonesia accused
Jakarta on Wednesday of helping Islamic militants set up bases in the country's
resource-rich Papua province.
The Free Papua Organisation has waged a protracted, low-level guerrilla war for
independence in remote Papua, one of several trouble spots in the world's most
populous Muslim country.
The group's spokesman said the Indonesian military had armed and funded Islamic
groups such as Laskar Jihad in the largely Christian province, which has oil reserves
and the world's biggest gold and copper mine, owned by U.S.-based
Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Inc .
"Now there are a lot of terrorist bases in Papua. We're Christian people, we're not
Muslims, so everyone understands that it's not our doing," Joseph Prai told Reuters in
an interview.
"There is Laskar Jihad and Satgas Merah Putih," he said.
Laskar Jihad was Indonesia's best known militant Muslim group until it was disbanded
soon after the bombings on Bali in October. The group sent several thousand fighters
to the Moluccas islands in mid-2000, adding to Christian-Muslim tension there.
"After the Bali bombing... they (Laskar Jihad) transported 2,000 forces to West Papua
from Aceh," Prai said, referring to Indonesia's westernmost province, on Sumatra
island, where Muslim rebels have been seeking a separate state for years.
Satgas Merah Putih, or the "red and white task force", is a less well known group
supporting Jakarta. "Red and white" is a reference to the Indonesian flag and is
nationalist rallying cry.
Prai said this information was based mainly on evidence collected by Elsham,
Papua's most prominent human rights group.
"We're still finding hard evidence. But we know they exist there because there have
been OPM members who have been fighting against Laskar Jihad forces."
"They (Jakarta) know there are terrorists in the country... The Indonesian army knows
this and they take advantage of this. They (the militants) were funded in the beginning
by the Indonesian army and armed by them."
There was no immediate reaction from Jakarta, which initially drew criticism for being
less visibly active in the U.S.-led war on terrorism than other countries in the region.
Prai's father, rebel leader Jakob Prai, has directed the guerrilla war for more than 20
years from exile in Sweden but his son is gradually taking over responsibility.
REAL SITUATION
Since the attacks on the resort island of Bali that killed at least 193 people, Indonesia
has put anti-terrorism regulations into force and made scores of arrests, many of
people with a militant Islamic background.
Prai said the West would be sympathetic to his group's demands if it knew the real
situation in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province that was formerly known as Irian
Jaya.
No country officially supports the Papuan separatists but many in the West have
criticised Indonesia's heavy-handed approach to the conflict. In December, Jakarta
warned Western nations against any support for the Papuans.
The guerrillas operate mainly in the remote highlands of the rainforest-covered region
and do not have modern weapons.
The province was incorporated into Indonesia in 1963 and Papuans voted for
Indonesian rule six years later in a U.N. plebiscite that was widely criticised as unfair.
Indonesia recently granted Papuans special autonomy but Prai said his group wanted
the United Nations to take up their case again.
"We have to let the people decide who should lead the country, let them vote. Our
main strategy now is just independence for West Papua," he said.
The tiny Pacific island nation Vanuatu may take up the Papuans case with the United
Nations, Prai said. The rebels plan to open an office in Vanuatu next May which could
make it the first country to have links with the Free Papua Organisation.
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