Jakarta – Indonesian police have seized dozens of atlases showing the flag of separatist rebels in Papua province amongst the banners of nations.

Fifty-nine atlases containing the Morning Star separatist flag were seized from bookstores in the resort island of Bali during a recent raid, Bali police spokesman Antonius Reniban was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

The book, entitled Atlas of Indonesia and the World, was published by a publishing company in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, the newspaper said. Police have also seized similar books in South Kalimantan on Borneo island, the Post said.

Indonesia won sovereignty over Papua, which was then called West Irian, in 1969, after the United Nations allowed an integration referendum involving a public show of hands by a few hundred hand-picked tribal leaders. The separatists, now split into badly coordinated factions, have been fighting a sporadic and ill-armed guerrilla war since then.

Jakarta has offered special autonomy for Papua, giving it a greater share of its oil and gas revenues among other concessions.

Papuans have long complained they have not received a fair share of profits from the province's natural resources. Human rights abuses by troops have fuelled separatist sentiment.