Jakarta – Security forces in Irian Jaya arrested 16 members of a Papuan separatist movement after an armed clash which injured five people, local police said yesterday.

The rebels were arrested on Friday after they tried to illegally enter Manokwari, a remote district in the north of the province. Manokwari Police Chief Lieutenant Colonel Budi Santoso said some of the rebels were armed with automatic weapons.

Rebels in the region, also known as West Papua, have been fighting for independence since 1963 when Indonesia occupied the former Dutch colony that covers the western half of New Guinea Island.

The separatists claim widespread support among indigenous Papuans, who resent the arrival of settlers from other parts of Indonesia, especially Java who are culturally and religiously different, however are given special favors and treatment by Jakarta-installed local bureaucrats and security forces.

Jakarta has recently granted all Indonesian provinces greater autonomy in a bid to diffuse separatist movements and redistribute wealth throughout the archipelago. A separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, chairman of the Papuan Presidium Council, was last week tried over his activity leading a hoisting of the Free Papua Movement (OPM)s flag.

The government, as well as legislators have tried to play down calls for secession from Indonesia. They have offered a draft law on the provision of more prosperity to the province. But strong opposition remains from the people, who are determined to have their freedom from what they consider an occupying army.