Jakarta – The Indonesian military has withdrawn from Papua province a special forces unit, some of whose members are on trial for the murder of a pro-independence leader there.

All 250 members of the Kopassus corps who were serving in Indonesia's easternmost province have been pulled out, media reports said Tuesday. Seven Kopassus members are on trial in a military court for the murder of Theys Eluay in November 2001.

"There will be no replacement. The tasks and duties of this task force will be handed over to the Indonesian armed forces, in this instance the Trikora command," Papua military chief, Major General Mahidin Simbolon, was quoted by the Kompas daily as saying at a ceremony to see the troops off. The Trikora command oversees security in Papua, the scene of a sporadic low-level independence revolt.

Simbolon denied that the pullout followed public pressure in the wake of Eluay's murder. He said the decision was made by the armed forces leadership after considering the "situation and conditions" in the field. The Jakarta Post quoted Simbolon as saying the move "is based merely on the consideration that security is conducive now." The troops left on board a navy warship bound for Jakarta.

Eluay was found dead in his car on November 11, 2001. He was abducted the previous evening while driving home from a dinner at the Kopassus task force's base in the provincial capital Jayapura. The court martial at Surabaya in East Java has heard evidence that one soldier clamped his hand over Eluay's mouth to quieten him during an argument about Eluay's plan symbolically to proclaim the province's independence. The pro-independence leader was still alive when soldiers left his vehicle, according to the testimony. Simbolon and his command's spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment on the withdrawal.