[Last weekend's killing of three school teachers in Papua highlights the complex relationship between the Freeport mining company, the Indonesian military, and local Papuan villagers. P.T. Freeport Indonesia is a subsidiary of the US corporation Freeport McMoRan and operates a giant copper and gold mine in the Grasberg mountains in Papua. After last week's shootings, which left three dead and another eight wounded, Indonesian police and military forces have stepped up operations near the Freeport mining concession.]

Presenter/Interviewer: Nic McLellan

Speakers: Australian author Dr Denise Leith, author of the book "The Politics of Power - Freeport in Suharto's Indonesia", to be published next month

Leith: "Freeport provide many, many, many services to the traditional people which they would not have if the company was not there. It certainly provides hospitals and medical services. It provides education to teachers and I believe in some instances teachers, it provides schools and scholarships. It provides many services to the traditional people."

"At the same time, the traditional people are very upset because they believe that this company has become extraordinarily wealthy by raping it's resources, and they feel that they have very little back, despite what Freeport feel has been a very generous relationship that they've had in the last few years with traditional people. I don't believe that the traditional people feel that Freeport has been extraordinarily generous at all."

"The company's profits ... there have been years when the company's made over 200 million dollars clear profit, and the traditional people get about 15 million dollars a year paid back in services to the community. Given the way in which the traditional people still live, in comparison to the way the ex-pat workers and Freeport workers live within the concession there, the traditional people are still very angry and very upset that they are not given near enough for what they see are their resources."

MacLellan: Recently the US Governmnet has introduced new requirement for companies to report on their financial accounts. Has this impacted on the relations between the Indonesian Authorities and the Freeport McMoRan company?

Leith: "That act, the corporate fraud act is quite interesting in that all American CEOs have to sign-off on that by the 14th of August. Freeport CEO, Jim Bob Moffet, or James Robert Moffet has signed-off on that piece of legislation. That means that should Freeport McMoRan or any other American company be lying in their annual reports in any way shape or form, or in their figures that they give to the stock exchange reporting of their annual reports, then they can be held totally accountable."

"My concern was that this may have been a reason that affected Freeport's relationship with the Indonesian Military because the company has been accused for many many years of paying money to the Indonesian military. There certainly have been recorded incidences of them paying money into the Military's bank accounts. Now if Freeport continue to do this, they're going to be held responsible?"

Maclellan: Do you think that there's the likelihood of further conflict in the area around the mine concession, in the wake of last week's shootings?

Leith: "More violence ... yes I believe that there will be more violence from the Indonesian military within the concession. If it is the OPM they will be after the people who actually committed violence. If it's not the OPM they still will be blaming the OPM and they will probably close off the concession and take out reprisals on the traditional people in the villages."