JAKARTA (AFP)--Indonesia's military isn't responsible for a
recent spate of deadly ambushes near a massive U.S.-owned mine in
the troubled eastern province of Papua, the defense minister said
Wednesday.
But Jowono Sudarsono didn't rule out the possibility that "rogue
elements" of the police or military were behind the shootings,
which killed an Australian mine worker and two Indonesians
including a policeman, during the weekend.
"I don't believe that the security forces are responsible for
these recent events," he told reporters.
"There may be rogue elements, there may be deserters from each
of the services including the police and the military.
"But at the moment there is no verifiable proof that active
military or active police are involved in the shooting."
He said his guess was that the attacks were related to feuds
between rival groups over control of lucrative illegal mining
activity, using the tailings from the massive Freeport-McMoran
Copper & Gold Inc.'s (FCX) gold and copper mine north of
Timika.
Ammunition used in the attacks Saturday and Sunday was standard
military-issue, but the minister said it could have come from
"captured rifles."
Indonesia's military chief said Tuesday the perpetrators were
probably Papuan separatist rebels, but police in the remote,
resource-rich region have said there is no evidence pointing to the
rebels' involvement.
"Let's wait for the results of the investigation," Sudarsono
said.
"There may be people who are involved in illegal activity who
find the lucrativeness of the gold panning ...too good to be
ignored."