ASSOCIATED PRESS, Monday September 2, 2002 1:53 PM
Papua rebels deny role in killing of two Americans; experts warn
of impact on Indonesia's economy
By CHRIS BRUMMITT
The Associated Press
TIMIKA, Indonesia (AP) -- Separatist rebels denied any role in the killing of two
American teachers and an Indonesian in the jungles of Papua province, and urged the
government Monday to allow an independent investigation into the attack.
Troops were combing the soaring, mist-covered mountain region for the gunmen who
ambushed a convoy Saturday as it headed to the giant Grasberg open-pit mine. The
mine is operated by a U.S. corporation.
Indonesian officials say they have not determined with certainty who was behind the
attack but that they suspected separatist rebels, who have been waging a low-level
fight against Jakarta's rule over Indonesia's easternmost province.
The separatist Free Papua Movement on Monday denied any involvement.
"I can say with assurance that the ... incident did not involve the Free Papua
Movement," said John Ondowame, a spokesman for the rebels in Sydney, Australia.
The rebel group urged Indonesian authorities to permit an independent international
probe into the ambush.
If the attack were connected to the separatist movement, it would be the bloodiest
against expatriates in almost four decades of fighting between government forces and
the rebels.
But in the past, the rebels in the tribal jungle region have used only spears and bows
and arrows, foreign diplomats in Jakarta said. The military has said that M-16
automatic rifles, standard issue in the Indonesian army, were used in this attack.
About 140 employees at the giant Grasberg open-pit mine and their dependents
returned to the complex for the first time since the attack on a group of teachers from
the international school there. Ten people were wounded in the shooting, including
seven Americans.
The ambush came less than two weeks before the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a time of concern in the United States
about potential terrorist attacks against Americans.
But although other groups in southeast Asia are believed to have links to the al-Qaida
terror network, the Free Papua Movement, which is overwhelmingly Christian, is not
among them.
In Jakarta, analysts and businesspeople predicted that the fatal ambush will scare
foreign investors away from Indonesia's trouble-plagued economy, which has already
seen almost half of its foreign investment disappear this year because of endemic
violence and corruption.
"It will probably sway potential investors who are on the borderline -- those who are
worried by the risks and the bad news already coming out of Indonesia," said Ken
Conboy of Control Risks Group, a London-based security consultancy.
Papuan separatists claim U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan Cooper-and-Gold Inc. --
which began extracting gold and copper in the early 1970s under a contract with
former dictator Suharto -- has no right to operate in the province.
The attack is likely to complicate work at Grasberg, said to be the world's most
profitable mining operation. Another U.S. company, energy giant Exxon-Mobil, was
forced to cease production of natural gas temporarily last year at its plant in Aceh
province, on Indonesia's western end, when it came under attack from separatists
there.
This past weekend, gun battles in Aceh left at least 10 people dead, including six
rebels, security officers said Monday.
"Of course, all investors will first look for a safe environment for their employees," said
Carrol Hessler, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta.
About 320 foreigners work for Freeport Indonesia, said spokesman Mindo
Pangaribuan. He could not say how many of them are American.
The violence in Papua tops a slew of bad news for foreign business executives in
Indonesia, who complain that corruption pervades the country's bureaucracy, military,
police and the judiciary.
Many multinational manufacturers have moved operations to Vietnam and China,
where productivity is higher, wages are lower and strikes less common.
As a result, in the first six months of this year, foreign direct investment in Indonesia
has tumbled by 42 percent to $2.52 billion from $4.31 billion a year ago, according to
official statistics.
In Townsville, Australia, where seven Americans and an Indonesian wounded in
Saturday's attack were being treated, survivors said they had not seen their attackers,
the mine's town manager said.
"It is very foggy, misty. It is at 9,000 feet," Geoff Hocking said. He refused to
speculate on who may have been responsible for the attack.
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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