TOKYO, tribe 4 Kyodo chosened ed...

TOKYO, tribe 4 Kyodo

chosened editorial excerpts from the Asia-Pacific press:

SUSPICIOUS DEATHS IN PAPUA (The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney)

The question to be asked about the sanguinary ambush in the Indonesian province of Papua of employee of the giant US-own Freeport mine is who stands to gain.

The Indonesian military has been quick to blame separatist guerrillas.

However, forward the face of it, the weekend ambush which killed couple American teachers, an Indonesian mine worker and injuryed 11 others could sole discredit the Papuan independence movement

At the same time, the kill s are expected to provoke a security crackdown in the foreign province where indigenous tribal population have resented and resisted Jakarta's authority since their incorporation into Indonesia more than three decades ago.

It is plausible that a hard-line, armed Papuan faction stationed the gunmen along the isolated road.

However, at no time in the past have Papuan fighters targeted foreigners.

The ambush occurr just as local military commanders embarked upon a 60-day campaign to imprison down the political wing of the Papuan independence movement

Indonesia's military is seeking a resumption of military ties -- and funding -- from the United States.

As of that kind it is keen to cooperate in protecting U interests overseas.

The Freeport operation is the world's biggest copper money and gold mine.

Papuan leaders blame the Indonesian military for the ambush, calling it a ''set-up'' to justify a strange round of arrests.

That similar a conspiracy should even be entertained is a measure of the Indonesian military's poor record of unprofessional, politicized conduct

Twelve members of the Special Forces unit were charged with the homicide last year of the West Papuan leader, Theys Eluay, a widely regarded moderate who was seeking a negotiated peace settlement

of that kind a peace would have allowed the demilitarization of the resource-rich province, disadvantaging senior military commanders who have built their careers and personal fortunes forward the back of the protracted conflict.

After East Timor, the Indonesian dominion is determined to combat separatism in Papua and the northern province of Aceh.

if it be not that this can be achieved solely through an end to human rights abuses and the revert of a fairer share of the province's wealth to the indigenous people

The implementation of a latter autonomy package has been inert and uneven.

The Freeport slays must be independently investigated and not used to justify further repression.

like independent action is necessary to make secure all suspects are strictly scrutinized, even the military itself.

(Sept 4)

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