Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Fears that Canberra is stoking support for Papua to break away from Indonesia sparked Jakarta's strong reaction last week to Australia granting visas to Papuan asylum-seekers, analysts said.

Greg Roberts, Kiunga, Papua New Guinea – Muslim extremists from The Philippines and elsewhere are claimed to be setting up bases in Papua with the blessing of elements of the Indonesian military.

Papua New Guinean Catholic bishop Giles Cote said the extremists were entering Papua to fight supporters of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).

Canberra – Australia tried to soothe ties with Indonesia on Monday after granting asylum to 42 boat people from the country's troubled Papua province and as media reported more Papuans were heading to Australia.

Harold Crouch – Indonesians have reacted with outrage at the Australian decision to grant temporary protection visas to 42 of the 43 Papuans who reached Cape York in an outrigger canoe two months ago.

Damian Kingsbury – Australia's decision to grant 42 West Papuan asylum seekers temporary protection has put the relationship with Indonesia under its most serious strain since the East Timor debacle of 1999. It has also highlighted contradictions in Australia's policy towards Indonesia.

Andra Jackson – An anglican minister from Victoria witnessed a confrontation in West Papua between protesters and Indonesian police, who fired rifles and tear gas into the air before charging into a demonstration that turned into a deadly riot.

Tom Hyland – It's unlikely that Alexander Downer believes what he says about the new row that has erupted between Australia and Indonesia over 42 Papuan asylum seekers.

Despite Indonesian protests over Australia's decision to grant protection visas to the Papuans, Downer says "things will settle down after a short period of time".

Tony Blair MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

26 March 2006

Dear Prime Minister,

Your visit to Indonesia: Concerns about West Papua

Carmel Egan – Relying on nothing more than the word of a good friend and their faith in God, the West Papuan 43 turned their dugout canoe south and made for Australia. It was January 13 and the five families of 37 adults and six children were heading, literally and politically, into a storm.

Jakarta – Although disillusioned and even threatened with losing its relevance, the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) remains the best available channel to address grievances in the province and thus must be engaged more actively in dialog with the government, a report from an international analysis group said.

Sydney – The Australian government must take the issue of Papua's right to self-determination to the United Nations, the Greens say.

Greens Senator Bob Brown accused the Howard government of hypocrisy over the issue, and called on Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to stand by Australia's international human rights obligations.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesian security forces continued to hunt for students in hiding in Papua's jungles yesterday.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Hiding in a tattered hut in West Papua's dense jungle and existing on food brought by sympathetic villagers, university student Everistus Kayep is confused by the maelstrom that has engulfed his life.

Two weeks ago he was studying maths and management at Cendrawasih University, on the outskirts of West Papua's provincial capital of Jayapura.

Greg Sheridan – Is there another boat on the way? This is the question now in Australia-Indonesia relations after the granting of temporary protection visas to 42 West Papuans. The West Papuans came here by boat and claimed they were being persecuted in the troublesome province of Indonesia. This is a big, big, big story.

Jakarta – The Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) has responded angrily to a government official's allegation that churches have been used as a medium to spread anti-government propaganda by Papua separatists.

Jakarta – Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Australia amid a furore over Canberra's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 asylum seekers from restive Papua province.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said its envoy would be called back to Jakarta for "consultations" with foreign ministry officials over the matter.

Jayapura – Papuan community leaders, smarting at the refusal of a minister to meet with them last week, have accused the central government of arrogance and an "unwillingness" to address problems affecting their province.

Jakarta – Indonesia's government Thursday threatened legal action against US mining giant Freeport unless the company improved the environmental record of its massive gold mine in Papua province.

Rob Taylor and Heru Rahadi, Jakarta – Australia's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers is an "unfriendly" act and Indonesia must protest, a senior Indonesian MP said today.

John McBeth, Jakarta – The pretext may have been demands for the closure of Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg copper and gold mine, 500 kilometers away across Papua's rugged central highlands.

The Uniting Church in Australia has called for dialogue and calm in the Indonesian province of Papua, in the wake of a violent demonstration which left four Indonesian security personnel dead.

We strongly condemn the statement by Syamsir Siregar, the head of BIN (Badan Inteligen Negara - State Intelligence Bureau) and the Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono, alleging that local NGOs with the support of international NGOs were behind the riots in Abepura.

Peter Cave – Up to 1,200 students are reported to be hiding in the hills around Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's Papua province, fearful of revenge attacks by members of the Indonesian Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob).

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta – The accusations by Syamsir Siregar, the head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), that local West Papuan non-government organisations (NGOs) in Papua sponsored the Abepura incident are intended to discredit NGOs in Papua as a whole.

Rob Taylor, Jakarta – Indonesia's defence minister wants to blacklist Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle from travelling to Papua, saying her presence could stir more violence in the restive province.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Papua remained tense with hundreds of students hiding in the jungle to evade a police manhunt, reports said, as the death toll from riots over a US-run mine rose to six.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Thousands of students are staying away from their dormitories in Abepura, fearing further reprisals after the killing of four security personnel last Thursday.

Rob Taylor in Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence chief has accused an Australian-backed aid group of being behind clashes in the province of West Papua in which four security officers were killed.

Israr Iskandar, Padang – Like an irresistible piece of chocolate cake, Freeport has become an issue politicians are eager to talk about.

Former People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Amien Rais has recently urged the government to revise its contract with PT Freeport Indonesia. He has even agreed with the activists, who demand Freeport's closure.

The Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) demands an independent investigation into the cases of Indonesian police brutality in West Papua reported after last week's protests from local students demanding a pull-out of the Indonesian army (TNI) and police from West Papua and the closure of the US-owned Freeport mining operations.

Jakarta – The National Intelligence Agency (BIN) has accused non-government organisations (NGOs) of sponsoring the bloody incident in Abepura, West Papua. But NGOs are pointing the finger at conflicts over the provision of security businesses by the TNI (Indonesian military) and national police (Polri).

Deadly clashes in Papua, in which four security officers were killed by demonstrators, were planned as a stepping stone to full independence for the restive province, Indonesian authorities said.

Jayapura – Paramilitary police in Papua pulled people from cars Saturday and beat them, an official said, two days after a mob bludgeoned to death four security officers during protests to demand the closure of a US-owned gold mine in eastern Indonesia.

Jayapura/Jakarta – Heeding public pressure, the National Police moved Sunday to stop retaliatory measures by ordering its Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Papua to return to their barracks in Jayapura.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have detained another 11 people in Papua province after three policemen and a soldier died in clashes with protesters demanding closure of a giant US-run mine, police said on Saturday.

Hon Alexander Downer MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

18 March 2006

Dear Mr. Downer,

I am writing to you concerning the dangerously deteriorating situation in West Papua.

A military crackdown is under way in Indonesian controlled West Papua in the wake of the violent end of a Jayapura demonstration against the Freeport McMoran mine two days ago. Reports indicate that riot police opened fire on the demonstrators using rubber bullets and possibly live ammunition as well as tear gas.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesian paramilitary police beat and kicked Papuan students yesterday in reprisals for the deaths of three policemen and an air force officer.

Human rights worker Albert Rumbekwan, from the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights, said the police had blocked roads and were searching every vehicle.

Mark Forbes, Jayapura – Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has called for restraint following the brutal murder of four security officers by Papuan demonstrators. He promised to respond to concerns about the giant Freeport goldmine but vowed it would remain open.

Jakarta – An alliance of NGOs has condemned Thursday's violence in Jayapura, Papua, but demanded the authorities not exact reprisals for the killing of three policemen and an Air Force officer.

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle has urged Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to press Indonesia for an end to violence in West Papua.

Senator Nettle said its time for Mr Howard and Mr Downer to do something. "The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister often boast of the close relationship we have with Indonesia," she said in a statement.

Jane Perlez, Jakarta – Indonesia's top military and police generals took control of the provincial capital of Jayapura in Papua on Friday, ordering the arrests of university students and directing the riot police to fire into the air as they patrolled the streets.

Reporter: Peter Cave

Mark Colvin: Three policemen and an Indonesian air force officer have been beaten to death, and an unknown number of demonstrators have been shot in the last 24 hours in escalating violence in Indonesia's Papua province, or as it used to be known, Irian Jaya, West Papua.

Ian Pearson MP
Minister of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 1AA

17 March 2006

Dear Mr Pearson,

We very much appreciated the opportunity of meeting you yesterday with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on West Papua.

Irwan Firdaus, Jayapura – Troops rounded up suspects Friday after mobs bludgeoned to death three police officers and a soldier during a protest to demand the shutdown of a massive US-owned gold mine in eastern Indonesia.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Istana Negara, Jakarta
Fax: 00 6221 385-5481

17 March, 2006

Dear Mr President,

We have followed with great alarm the events in Jayapura yesterday.

Jayapura – Enraged Indonesian police fired live bullets to root out about 1,000 protesters from a university in Papua after the students beat several officers to death, eyewitnesses said.

Papuans and officers of the Police Force and TNI (Armed Forces of Indonesia) have fallen victim of the Misguided Policy of the SBY/Kalla government.

Jayapura – Protesters beat three police officers to death Thursday during a violent demonstration to demand the closure of a US-owned gold mine in Indonesia's Papua province, police and witnesses said. At least 19 people were injured in clashes.

Two members of the police paramilitary unit and a regular officer were killed, said Col. Kertono Wangsadisastra.

Jakarta – Armed police clashed with rock-throwing demonstrators during a protest against the world's largest gold and copper mine in Indonesia's Papua province leaving up to five people dead and many more injured, police and witnesses said.