THE latest part of the vast and troubled Indonesian archipelago to attract the international spotlight is its easternmost province: Irian Jaya (or West Papua as it is also known), which borders Papua New Guinea.
The China syndrome Pakistan's cash A sort of reform Reprints Related items The fire next timeDec 7th 2000 Related topics Irian Jaya Aceh Asia South-East Asia IndonesiaAfter the commemoration on December 1st of a 1961 "independence declaration", police shot dead around ten Papuans in the towns of Merauke and Fakfak, claiming they "had no choice".
Separatist movements exist in Madura, Kalimantan and the Moluccas, though they are puny in comparison with the two best organised, in Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra, and, at the other extremity, in West Papua (formerly called Irian Jaya, and before that West New Guinea) some 4,000km 2,5000 miles) away to the east.
All Irian Jaya really has in common with the rest of Indonesia is that, between 1898 and 1949, it was occupied by the same colonist, an argument which if extrapolated would in 1961 have allowed India to annex Malaysia.
The central government and foreign firms have invested heavily in the copper and gold of Irian Jaya and the gas and oil of Aceh.
In contrast to the position of the western province, not all nations recognise Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua (until recently called Irian Jaya), which was confirmed in a stage-managed vote in 1969 by 1,025 hand-picked leaders, rather than in a promised referendum.
Furthermore, the central government continues to try to undermine the provincial administrations and destabilise their security: for instance, it plans to carve up West Papua (formerly called Irian Jaya) into three parts, and recently sent the army's special forces back to the province, even though they had been implicated in the murder of a local separatist politician.
This is aimed at cutting off what little international support there might be for separatist rebels in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya).
At the country's easternmost extremity, Irian Jaya (or West Papua as it is also known), which borders Papua New Guinea, the Indonesian authorities have acted fiercely to curb pro-independence enthusiasm.
After the fall in 1998 of the dictator, Suharto, and the flowering of Indonesian democracy, the region was granted "special autonomy" in 2001 and renamed Papua (from Irian Jaya).
They were quickly followed by yet more bloody clashes with Indonesian security forces in both provinces.In Irian Jaya, police arrested several leaders of the separatist Papuan Presidium Council, including its chief, Theys Eluay.
