Ben Bohane, Port Vila – A senior Indonesian diplomat who went to Vanuatu last week on a mission to try and persuade the Vanuatu government against supporting the West Papuan independence movement has left without success, according to a statement from Vanuatu's Foreign Affairs department.

Vanuatu's Deputy PM and Foreign Affairs Minister Serge Vohor met with Mr Imron Cotan, who is deputy chief of Mission to the Indonesian embassy in Australia, but said that while Vanuatu hopes to maintain a friendly and co-operative relationship with Indonesia, on the issue of West Papua, Vanuatu will continue to support the West Papuan people's struggle for independence.

The issue has bi-partisan support within Vanuatu and is not likely to change, he said. "We believe, as Melanesians, that the whole island of New Guinea was once our ancestral homeland. Therefore we feel it is only right that we support our brothers and sisters from West Papua in their legitimate claim to become independent" said Mr Vohor.

He blamed the United Nations for "mishandling" the West Papuan case in the 1960s and said he was willing to lead a delegation to Jakarta if President Megawati Sukarnoputri herself wished to continue a dialogue on the issue.

The West Papuan Peoples' representative in Vanuatu, Andy Ayamiseba thanked the Vanuatu government "for its maturity and for sticking to its principles". He said the Indonesian diplomat left "empty handed".

The arrival of the Indonesian diplomat around the same time as a senior delegation from Australia and New Zealand were in Vanuatu to examine the security situation has led some observers to question whether Mr Cotan was able to slip in under the cover of the Australian delegation. "I find it curious that the Indonesian delegation coincided with the Australian and New Zealand delegation here" said Mr Ayamiseba.

The Australian High Commissioner in Port Vila, Steve Waters, dismissed any connection saying that the timing was "a coincidence" and that he was unaware of the presence of any Indonesian diplomat mission. Asked whether the Australian government had any objections to Vanuatu's strong stand on the West Papuan issue, including the imminent establishment of a West Papuan diplomatic office in Port Vila, Mr Waters said "Australia has made it clear that we recognise Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua but Vanuatu is a sovereign nation and any decision it takes on this issue is up to the Vanuatu government".