1) Papua Police, OPM Exchange Fire in Lanny Jaya Confrontation
2) OPM besieges city in Papua
3) Indonesia approves $12.1 bn BP gas deal
4) News has come through that Victor Yeimo is fine and was released.
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1) Papua Police, OPM Exchange Fire in Lanny Jaya Confrontation
Robert Isidorus & Banjir Ambarita | December 03, 2012
Jayapura. Armed separatists exchanged gunfire with Indonesian security forces in Papua on Monday as police combed the Lanny Jaya district for those allegedly behind last week’s deadly police station attack, a Free Papua Organization (OPM) head said.
“This morning we exchanged fire with the security forces,” said Purom Wenda, the head of the Lanny Jaya branch of the OPM, during a telephone conversation with journalists in Jayapura on Monday.
The local branch of the OPM opened fire after members allegedly met resistance while marching into Tiom, Lanny Jaya, Monday morning. The pro-independence group exchanged fire with members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Papua Police.
A civilian, 25-year-old Ferdi Turuallo, was allegedly killed in the crossfire, according to unconfirmed reports. Ferdi was allegedly on his way home from the market when the gunfight broke out.
The Papua Police said they heard of the battle, but did not release any additional details Monday afternoon.
“I heard but I will have to check it first,” Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya said.
Purom and the Lanny Jaya branch of the OPM have been hunted by police since the group claimed responsibility for the Nov. 27 slaying of three police officers at a Pirime subdistrict station.
The OPM’s main leaders, who are based in Puncak Jaya, denied any connection to the killings. But Purom, who claims to lead a more militant branch of the armed pro-independence group, told the Indonesian news portal tempo.co that he was behind the attack.
“OPM did the shootings. I led the shootings,” he said.
Police said 50 members of the group converged on the small police station, killing three, seizing weapons and setting the building ablaze.
Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency (BIN) has said the attacks were meant to serve as a reminder of the OPM ahead of the Dec. 1 anniversary of Papua's independence from Dutch rule.
Six men were arrested in connection with the attack on Thursday. One was shot in the leg after he reportedly raised a machete in front of security officers.
“We are certainly not going to show any mercy,” Sumerta told Tempo.co on Friday. “But for now, we are waiting on the government to settle the issue internally.”
Indonesian security forces have fought against a low-level insurgency since the resource-rich province was annexed in 1969.
The International Center for Transitional Justice and the Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (Elsham Papua) have recorded nearly 750 instances of human rights abuses in the remote province since Indonesian forces arrived in 1963, according to a joint report released this year.
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2) OPM besieges city in Papua
The Jakarta Post, Pirime, Papua | Archipelago | Mon, December 03 2012, 12:09 PM
Members of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) were involved in a one-hour shootout with security personnel in Pirime district, Lanny Jaya regency, Papua, at 6 a.m. on Monday.
OPM Pirime commander-in-chief Purom Okiman Wenda said that hundreds of the movement’s members had besieged the capital of Lanny Jaya, Tiom, to fight for the separation of Papua from Indonesia.
“The shootout claimed no casualties on our side,” he said.
Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya, meanwhile, said that the number of casualties was as yet unknown.
Tempo.co., however, reported that an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver in Tiom was hit by a bullet during the shootout.
According to Wenda, his group was involved in the shooting that killed three police personnel — Second Insp. Rofli Takubesi, First Brig. Daniel Makuker and Brig. Jefri Rumkorem — at the Pirime police subprecinct station last month.
The Nov. 27 incident occurred at 6.30 a.m., when hundreds of OPM members shot Jefri, who was about to raise the red-and-white flag at the police station, he said.
Dozens of others barged into the station and killed Daniel, before they shot Pirime Police chief Rofli, who was hiding under a cot, Wenda added.
Police have detained seven people following the attack on the station. YW, 40, was captured in Pirime moments after the attack when he resisted arrest while attacking police personnel with a machete, while six other suspects — KW, 40, LK, 22, TW, 24, GK, 35, DTT, 45 and TT, 17, were arrested by police in Waragame village, Piramid district in Jayawijaya regency.
Police seized evidence in the form of a Morning Star separatist flag, Free Papua Movement (OPM) membership cards, a laptop, a United Kingdom flag and a Papua New Guinea flag, five OPM militia notebooks and a machete.
Sumerta said that police had yet to ascertain whether or not the seven men were involved in the attack on the police station. (han)
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3) Indonesia approves $12.1 bn BP gas deal
(AFP) – 22 minutes ago
JAKARTA — The Indonesian subsidiary of oil giant BP on Monday said a $12.1-billion deal to expand its liquid natural gas operations in the country had been given final approval.
The deal, announced last month during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state visit to London, will allow BP to develop a third liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction train at its Tangguh project in West Papua province, according to a statement from BP Indonesia.
"The plan of development for a third LNG train at Tangguh has now been fully approved," BP's Asia-Pacific regional president William Lin said in a statement.
"This is an important milestone towards realising this significant development, and we appreciate the government granting full approval," he added.
BP is one of Indonesia's largest foreign investors and holds a 37.16 percent stake in the Tangguh plant, which began operations in mid-2009.
Indonesian Papua, in the eastern part of the archipelago, is rich in resources, drawing big investments from foreign firms.
But the local population, which is mostly ethnic Melanesian, is claiming a bigger share of the profit, which has led to a low-level insurgency by separatist groups.
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4) News has come through that Victor Yeimo is fine and was released.
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