Jakarta – Two men attempting to hoist a separatist flag in Irian Jaya were shot dead by Indonesian police yesterday, hospital staff said.

The two men were killed during a raid on residents who had raised the "Morning Star" rebel flag in the coastal city of Sorong, hospital worker Ari Dimara said in a telephone interview.

"This morning we received the bodies of two wen who died from a flag-raising incident in the city's eastern sub-district. There was a skirmish with police, they broke the flag poles and pulled the flags down," he said. "The situation has calmed down after the morning incident but people are still afraid."

For years raising the Morning Star flag was outlawed in Irian Jaya, now officially known as West Papua. But under an agreement earlier this year Jakarta and the local authorities said the flag could be raised if it were not higher than the Indonesian national flag. It was not immediately clear why police opened fire on the flag-raisers yesterday.

In a separate incident on Thursday police wounded six members of the civilian Papua Task Force (Satgas) who had attempted to prevent a boat carrying refugees from the strife-torn city of Ambon from berthing at Sorong port. The boat left Ambon on Wednesday with some 3,000 refugees on board fleeing fierce Muslim-Christian battles in the region, the Antara news agency reported.

Second Sergeant Kaimuddin said from Sorong that the clash took place late on Thursday afternoon when police tried to disperse the group blocking the ship from docking. "Rubber bullets were fired against the Satgas group, they were massing the port trying to stop the ship from entering the dock, although it was still some 300 metres from the port," he said. "Refugees aboard the ship numbered about 3,000 people, but the Dobonsolo never made it to the port, and was sent away."

Police also detained some 30 men from the Satgas group, Mr Kaimuddin said, adding the Sorong regional administration has rejected the refugees.