Mark Abberton – Five hundred people participated in a four-day congress beginning February 23 in Sentani, in Indonesian- controlled West Papua, to discuss efforts to build a unified leadership for independence. About 1000 security personnel stood outside but did not intervene.

Jakarta - Warning shots were fired on Thursday as mobs attempted to prevent police from clearing barricades from the streets in a town in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, police said.

Jody Betzien, Melbourne – Two human rights workers from West Papua visited Melbourne last week to draw attention to the training of pro-Indonesian militia and arbitrary killings in the Indonesian province.

Mark Abberton – Following the downfall of the Suharto and Habibie governments, the election of the "reform" president, Abdurrahman Wahid, and the withdrawal of Indonesian troops from East Timor, the Indonesian government has been forced to grant some democratic reforms, including offering "special autonomy status" to West Papua (Irian Jaya) and Aceh.

Jakarta – Indonesian police fired warning shots in eastern Irian Jaya province on Wednesday to disperse an angry mob which attacked a police headquarters after the death of a pro-independence student, police said.

Jayapura – One man was killed when police opened fire on mobs attacking a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police headquarters in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya, police said on Tuesday.

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's fledgling civilian Government has come under renewed pressure from separatists in the far-flung province of Papua as a military crackdown reignites tensions in the staunchly Muslim province of Aceh.

Jakarta – Nine policemen were injured and three residents suffered gunshot wounds when police opened fire during a riot in a town in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, a report said Thursday.

Jakarta – The life expectancy of the Irianese is about 40 years, the shortest among ethnic groups in Indonesia, due to malnutrition and a poor health service, a senior local official says.

Jakarta – State-run Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) went off the air in the Irian Jaya town of Fakfak on Saturday after its office was ransacked in rioting the previous day, a staff member said.

"For the time being, RRI in Fakfak will not broadcast, in line with a directive issued by the director," an RRI employee said by telephone.

Tim Murphy – Students from West Papua occupied the Dutch embassy in Jakarta on January 17. They are demanding that Holland fulfil its promises to help West Papua achieve independence from Indonesia.

Andrew Kilvert – Military authorities and political enforcers associated with the former Soeharto regime appear to be building up East Timor-style militias in the contested province of West Papua, human rights activists warned yesterday.

Jakarta – Thousands of people attended a ceremony to hoist the separatist Free West Papua flag in a town in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, a report said here Tuesday.

Reuters in Jakarta – Separatist leader Thom Beanal says Indonesia's eastern Irian Jaya province could be independent by 2003 but freedom may have a bloody price, as it did in East Timor.

Mr Beanal said yesterday separatists planned to convene a congress later this year to map out a strategy for independence, which they want to achieve through dialogue with Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has arrived in the remote eastern province of Irian Jaya, were calls for independence have been rising, to watch the first local sunrise of 2000, the state Antara news agency said Friday.

Jayapura – A House of Representatives delegation said here on Saturday no foreign country would recognize an independent Irian Jaya.

Linda Kaucher – Indonesian military forces shot protesters trying to prevent them lowering the West Papuan independence flag in the south coast town of Timika on December 1. Approximately 30 people were injured by the gunfire, and at least 10 people were arrested.

Andrew Kilvert, Timika – Tensions remained high in this isolated mining town on the Irian Jaya south coast yesterday, a day after Indonesian troops opened fire on unarmed pro-independence protesters, injuring 55 people.

The protesters yesterday re-established their burnt tent embassy in the Catholic church grounds where the shooting took place.

Jayapura – A day after dozens of people were injured in a clash between police and demonstrators, hundreds of protesters demanding independence for Irian Jaya rallied Friday at the site of the violence.

Associated Press in Jayapura – Dozens were injured on Thursday when Indonesian security forces at a remote mining town fired on about 2,000 demonstrators who demanded independence for Irian Jaya province in West New Guinea, human rights activists said.

They said the shootings took place when troops tried to lower a rebel flag flying outside a church.

Jakarta – Hundreds of thousands of pro-independence supporters Wednesday joined peaceful demonstrations across Irian Jaya on the anniversary of the separatist movement as activists defied military warnings and hoisted their flag.

Thousands of pro-independence West Papuans held a "birthday celebration" for leader Theys Eluay in the Sentani subdistrict of the capital, Jayapura, on November 12. Local residents say that between 3000 and 5000 people participated; Indonesian police claimed it was just 300.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – Rex Rumakiek knew the ballot would be rigged when the Indonesian administrators abolished the local parliament after it had approved a one man, one vote system.

It wasn't only the Indonesians. It appeared that the rest of the world was also prepared to sacrifice the rights of the West Papuan people for its own geostrategic interests.

Jakarta – Some 200 people seeking independence for Irian Jaya marched into the parliament complex Thursday as President Abdurrahman Wahid renewed his support for a referendum in Aceh province, witnesses said.

The demonstrators, both men and women, got into the complex in central Jakarta while the house was in session, but did not enter the chamber itself.

Jakarta – Security forces broke up a peaceful protest by thousands of residents in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province, reports said Tuesday.

The state Antara news agency said the mass demonstration in the district of Fakfak was staged shortly after noon Monday to push for the resignation of district head, Colonel Suparlan Pasambuna.

Jakarta – Some 3,000 residents in the remote Indonesian province of Irian Jaya went on the rampage Friday, demanding the recovery of the bodies of some 300 victims of a boat tragedy, police said.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military has issued a "full alert" security status in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's remote eastern Irian Jaya province, as it enters third day Saturday of massive protests over the government's decision to split the province in three.

Jakarta – A second day of clashes between local tribesmen and migrants in the mining town of Timika in Indonesia's remote Irian Jaya province killed four people, raising the death toll in two days to 14, reports and a tribal activist said Friday.

Jakarta – Angry mobs paralyzed downtown Manokwari in Indonesia's remote Irian Java province on Saturday, a day after police shot dead one man and wounded two others during an outbreak of violence.

Jakarta – Scores of students in the easternmost Indonesian province of Irian Jaya have protested over the alleged involvement of British elite troops in a violent hostage-rescue operation in 1996, a report said Friday.

Antony Balmain – As East Timor prepares to vote in a United Nations ballot to decide its future, documents show Australia played an active and secret role to ensure Irian Jaya became a part of Indonesia in another UN-supervised vote – the so-called Act of Free Choice in 1969.

Jayapura – Members of the National Commission on Human Rights concluded from their visit here saying that the Irianese lived in fear.

Jakarta – Thousands of indigenous villagers in the Irian Jaya town of Timika on Thursday protested against Indonesia's plans to carve the remote province into three parts, resident sources said. Police, however, put the number of protesters at about 100.

Jakarta – Some 5,000 people in the remote Indonesian province of Irian Jaya held a peaceful rally Monday to call for an independent Melanesian state, witnesses said.

The protestors, many holding bibles, marched through the town of Timika singing hymns and later headed to the office of the Mimika regent to convey their demands, one witness said by phone.

Neles Tebay, Jayapura – Security authorities continued to commit human rights violations in Irian Jaya in the past year as popular resentment against the central government unfolded in the wake of an upsurge in separatist activities, a rights group and churches say.

Sydney – Britain's crack SAS army regiment was involved in a 1996 mission to rescue hostages from rebels in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province during which eight civilians died, an Australian television report claimed Monday.

Jakarta – Riots in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province have left one man dead and one wounded, while rebels abducted six forestry officials in separatist unrest, reports and residents said Tuesday.

Jakarta – Indonesian police arrested 19 separatists and shot and injured one of them Monday after they hoisted their flag in front of a district parliament building in Irian Jaya province, a report said.

The state Antara news agency said police opened fire, wounding one separatist in the neck, when the group resisted efforts to haul down the flag in the district of Sorong.

Ben Bohane, Irian Jaya – From the air, the Fly River looks like a vast brown intestinal tract, twisting its way through the tangled jungles of southern New Guinea. In the last century, European explorers navigated the river to see if it led to the heart of the island (it did).

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have suspended a mining exploration contract awarded to a subsidiary of US miner Freeport McRoran Gold and Copper Inc. in Irian Jaya, citing political and security concerns, an official said Friday.

Andrew Kilvert, Jayapura – A group of Indonesian settlers held hostage by self-proclaimed Irian Jaya rebels were returned home yesterday after a 27-day ordeal in the remote Bewani valley across the Papua New Guinea border.

The 11 hostages, seven women and four men, were released by PNG army and police units on Sunday, after a three-day operation.

Terry Friel, Wamena – Indonesia's first democratic election in four decades has hit trouble in remote Irian Jaya, where separatist passions have prompted some voters to boycott the poll and some ballots may not be delivered in time.

Separatists say they cannot accept the election and are prepared to die for their cause.

Sander Thoenes, Wamena – If people here are wary of the Army, they have a reason to be. In Irian Jaya, Indonesia's easternmost province, thousands have died during three decades of a small but persistent antigovernment guerrilla war.

So when Army troops last week chased away the pedicab drivers and took up positions, a tremor moved across Wamena's marketplace.

Jakarta – An angry mob vandalized seven shop-houses in the eastern Indonesian province of Irian Jaya following the death of a college teacher in police custody, a report said Monday.

Jayapura – Irian Jaya Governor Freddy Numberi has confirmed that the government has rejected the Irian Jaya people's demand for the independence of West Papua (Irian Jaya) which representatives of the Irian Jaya people conveyed to President B.J. Habibie during a recent dialogue.

Jakarta – Community leaders from the far-eastern Indonesian province of Irian Jaya met President B.J. Habibie on Friday, some asking for independence for the resource-rich western half of New Guinea island.

But the 100-strong delegation was split, with some members instead pushing for autonomy within Indonesia instead.

Canberra – Irian Jaya's expectations of self determination had been raised by a softening of Indonesia's stance on East Timor, a leading church official said today.

Executive member of the World Council of Churches, Clement John, said he had perceived a definite change in expectation in a recent trip to Irian Jaya.

Jakarta – Irianese leaders, rebuking President B.J. Habibie for supporting the expansion plan of mining company PT Freeport Indonesia, demanded on Friday their people have a say in the process of licensing the development.

Jakarta – Separatist guerrillas and the military in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya have agreed on an immediate ceasefire, the official Antara news agency on Wednesday quoted a local military chief as saying.

Peter Waldman, Mount Jaya – At 13,000 feet up this remote crag, Steve Drake, operations chief of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s huge Grasberg mine, looks out uneasily across Lake Wanagon. The dazzling turquoise pool is loaded with copper leached from the mine's waste-rock dump, so much copper that Freeport intends to mine the lake water some day. Mr.