[The security chief for the Freeport mine has said he agrees with assessments by the Indonesian military, that the local independence group, the Free Papua Movement, is probably to blame. He has also linked the attack to the America's so-called War on Terror.]

Transcript:

John Highfield: While Australia's reservations about where to lay blame for the attacks is certainly not shared, it will come as little surprise to you, by security specialists at the Freeport mining company. The security chief for the Freeport mine has said he agrees with assessments by the Indonesian military, that the local independence group, the Free Papua Movement, OPM, is probably to blame. Freeport's chief executive officer, James Moffett, concedes the interests of the local military are inextricably linked though with security for the mine, and he's linked the attack to America's so-called War on Terrorism.

Rafael Epstein reports.

Rafael Epstein: The Freeport site sits on the biggest known deposit of gold and the second largest copper mine in the world. As unrest around the valuable asset has increased over the last 10 years, so too has the security presence. There are thousands of soldiers, the Indonesian navy, air force, and coastguard help, and there's even a garrison of riot police. Speaking from New Orleans, Louisiana, Freeport CEO, James Moffett is honest about the blending of mutual interests shared by Indonesia's security forces and Freeport

James Moffet: The troops there are there not just to provide security for the mine and our operations and communities, but for the area in general. And what I would tell you is people have already shown up on the site and they will review the security that they put in place for our specific operation to ensure that this national treasure is protected. This very important government resource. And secondly, they will review the security of the entire area. What will happen here is people will focus on our port and that is a government owned port. The security people will look at the original design that was put in place in the mid-'90s and whatever they decide to do. But I also think that probably because of this incident, that the area's away from us, that they'll probably look at the security of the whole area.

Rafael Epstein: The Indonesian military is a complex web of interests. While human rights groups blame members of the military, Freeport's own security chief, Tom Green, agrees with the Indonesian army that people from the Free Papua Movement are to blame. Independence groups fear a repeat of East Timor, where Indonesia's military helped foment the very unrest theypublicly tried to suppress. James Moffett stayed away from such speculation.

James Moffet: You heard that there was a handful of people that may have done this. My people at the job site, particularly the people that liaise with the security troops, don't confirm anything to me that would let me give you more than what you've heard from me today. But until they actually give me an official report and [inaudible] something that is more precise here, just because I think it's important for us to not get involved in rumours and I'd rather let the authorities speculate on what they've done and what they're doing, and they've made no official comment about capturing anybody.

John Highfield: James Moffett is the chief executive officer at the Freeport Mining Corporation. He was speaking at an international media conference following those incidents at the weekend. Raphael Epstein drawing the analysis together for us.