Jakarta – Some 30 people from Indonesia's rebellious Irian Jaya province rallied peacefully outside the UN mission here on Thursday, accusing the military of being behind the murder of separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.

"Theys Eluay's death is a conspiracy between the government and the TNI [Indonesian armed forces]," said a poster held up by a young Irianese boy. Another sign read: "The government is responsible for the death of Theys Eluay." The protestors, some wearing tribal costumes, performed a traditional dance.

Eluay, 64, who headed the pro-independence Papua Presidium, went missing on November 10 while driving home from a ceremony at a base of the Kopassus special forces in the provincial capital Jayapura. His driver had told Eluay's family in a brief mobile telephone call that they had been abducted by a group of non-Irianese. Eluay's body was found the following day in his crashed car.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was quoted as saying in the Jakarta Post that a team of military and police had been formed to investigate the death despite doubts over whether such a team will be independent. "The government is committed to investigating the murder," Yudhoyono said.

Irianese religious leaders have asked the National Commission on Human Rights to set up an independent investigation and refused to accept any involvement by the military and police.

Rebels have been fighting sporadically for an independent Melanesian state since the former Dutch colony bordering Papua New Guinea became an Indonesian province in 1963. Independence supporters say a 1969 UN-sponsored plebiscite, which reaffirmed Indonesian sovereignty over Irian Jaya, was flawed.