Vaudine England, Jakarta – Dozens of separatists in the disputed province of Irian Jaya were rounded up yesterday as officials hardened their crackdown on dissent.

At least 45 indigenous Papuans were arrested as police tried to clear out the Arts Centre in the capital Jayapura, used by the pro-independence Satgas Papua militia as its base.

The arrests followed the shooting dead of eight Papuans in the southern border town of Merauke on Saturday and the killing of two more in western Fakfak. In each violent incident, indigenous Papuans armed with bows and arrows faced police and soldiers in full riot gear with guns.

Rights observers said the violence over the weekend was an inevitable by-product of the widespread frustration felt over the control exercised around Friday's celebrations of a failed 1961 declaration of independence.

Although independence flag-raising ceremonies passed peacefully on Friday, police and troops maintained a heavy presence and enforced the final lowering of the flag that night.

Witnesses report that many ordinary Papuans had not expected the flag to disappear and are close to losing faith in the Papua Presidium, which negotiated a November 9 deal with the local government for the flag to stay down and for the Satgas headquarters to be dismantled.

"I saw the situation in the [central Jayapura] Imbi Park, around midnight," said John Rumbiak, head of the Els-HAM Centre for Human Rights advocacy and Information. "So many of them were dissatisfied, some were hysterical, crying and wailing. They were shouting 'How dare you take our flag away'." As the message sank in, more Papuans gathered at the Arts Centre on Saturday and overnight, leading to the police operation at 4am yesterday when riot police with sticks and batons broke in. Scuffles broke out between Papuans and police, with broken windows adding to the debris as the 45 people arrested were taken away.

Some protesters sobbed as their flag stopped flying. "We allowed them to lower it to protect our people's safety," said Katerina Yabansubru, a senior pro-independence activist. "It is only a symbol. It doesn't mean our freedom struggle is over."

But such subtleties do not convince the masses. "Many ordinary Papuans don't understand the deal which the Papua Presidium made with the Government to lower the flags. They say it was made without consultation of their wishes," Mr Rumbiak said.

The Presidium was formed during the Peoples' Congress held in Jayapura in May and June and represents a more moderate voice for independence in the hope Jakarta might negotiate with it to ensure a peaceful transition. But an increasingly hardline central Government has refused to open formal dialogue and, in common with critiques of its behaviour in the past, is busy imposing its own reality in Irian Jaya through both repression and promised development plans.

This approach risks leaving the Presidium out in the cold, when it has been Presidium leaders who have sought to lower passions and promote inter-racial harmony alongside political talks.

Rights observers say the danger is that more radical alternatives for Papuan passions exist and could become more popular. "These frustrated people can be provoked or manipulated very easily, especially to make conflict between Papuans and migrants," Mr Rumbiak warned. A representative of the Operasi Papua Merdeka, the guerillas aiming to achieve independence by force, warned at the weekend that his organisation also disagreed with the deal to keep the flags down. "Our military wing will consolidate and will take action," he was quoted as saying. "Just you wait and see."

Mr Rumbiak said: "Most of the journalists are leaving town now and that leaves me worried." He said it was typical government behaviour to wait for the limelight to shift away before beginning a more serious crackdown on separatist sentiment.

In Fakfak, again after a flag was lowered, riots saw two men killed by police, bringing the death toll to 10 in two days. Seven others were arrested and 70 members of the Satgas Papua militia were declared fugitives by local police.