Jakarta – Human rights groups on Tuesday called for a deeper investigation into the killing of an independence leader in Indonesia's Papua province, saying the conviction and jailing of seven soldiers haven't uncovered who gave the order for the slaying.

Seven of Indonesia's Kopassus special forces soldiers have been found guilty by an Indonesian court over the murder of Papuan pro independence leader They's Eluay in 2001. But the seven men face at most three and a half years in jail, and in some cases haven't even been stripped of their place in the Army.

Presenter/Interviewer: Tim Palmer, Indonesia Correspondent

Four Indonesian special forces soldiers who killed a Papuan provincial leader while trying to silence his calls for independence were jailed for between 36 and 42 months.

"The defendants were proven guilty of jointly engaging in mistreatment that led to the death of Theys Hiyo Eluay," said Judge Colonel Yamini in a military court.

Wamena – With the apparent approval of the governor of Papua, Yab Solosa, a joint military unit composed of Kopassus, Kostrad 413 and Rapid Reaction Force troops took action in the direction of the District of Kuyawage, west of Wamena, and burnt down the homes of inhabitants, as well as schools, medical centres and teachers' homes.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Yapenas Murib, 35, one of four civilians suspected of involvement in the theft of arms at the a military district headquarters in Wamena on March 4, died on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Amnesty International said on Tuesday that Indonesian troops had reportedly tortured villagers and torched homes during a hunt for separatist rebels in Papua province.

Wamena – According to a report from ELSHAM's contact post in Wamena, a detainee named Yapenas Murib, from Ilekma who was arrested a few days ago died in military custody at the military command, Kodim 1702 on Tuesday, 5am.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Home affairs minister Hari Sabarno has added to the confusion surrounding the partition of the autonomous province of Papua into three provinces – Papua, Central Irian Jaya, and West Irian Jaya.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) has arrested a man suspected of involvement in last week's raid on an armoury in Papua province, a district commander said on Saturday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has found strong indications of the involvement of its own members in a recent burglary at the Wamena military district's arsenal that left three dead, including two Army soldiers.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – After four days of an operation to recover 29 stolen rifles and the rebels who allegedly stole them, combat soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) recovered nine of the rifles, six of which they located on the Wamena military district compound, the very place from where they went missing.

Hans Gebze is a West Papuan student based in Yogyakarta. He has been involved in political struggle since before 1998. He is a secretary-general of the Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP). Gebze spoke to Green Left Weekly's Max Lane about the West Papuan people's struggle for freedom.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – A decision by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri to split restive Papua into three provinces has created serious tension and could spark violence, a respected think tank said on Wednesday.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta/Jayapura – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu ordered the military in Papua to quell the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which was blamed for a deadly burglary at the Jayawijaya military district arsenal early on Friday.

Jakarta – Suspected rebels trying to steal weapons during a night raid on a military post exchanged fire with government troops early yesterday, killing two soldiers in Indonesia's remote Papua province, the military said.

The gunbattle also killed one man, who villagers later identified as a rebel, said Papuan military chief Brigadier-General Nurdin Zainal.

Surabaya – The team of lawyers for the seven members of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) accused of killing pro-independence Papua figure Dortheys "Theys" Hiyo Eluway, have appealed to judges to be fair in imposing punishment on their clients. One of the lawyers, Mario Bernardo, said he suspected political pressure had led to the trial.

Jakarta – Gunmen believed to be separatist rebels shot dead two soldiers during an attempt early Friday to steal weapons from a military post in Papua province, the military said.

Indonesia has expressed alarm at the opening of a Papuan People's office in Vanuatu.

The Indonesian embassy in Canberra has issued a statement saying it may review diplomatic ties with Vanuatu.

It says it learned from credible sources the office was set up in the capital Port Vila last week. Indonesia has asked the government of Vanuatu for an explanation.

Police in the Indonesian province of Papua say the accidental discovery of a cache of illegal explosives has led to fears of covert militia activity in the region. Police say tribal leaders in the coastal town of Sorong, where police have arrested a local businessman and Islamic politician, have raised the concerns.

The First Commission of the Papuan Legislative Assembly and human rights activists in Papua have expressed alarm about plans to send one thousand more soldiers to Papua.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) would not ask US gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia to provide financial contributions to its soldiers.

Alan Boyd, Sydney – A diplomatic offensive by Indonesia appears to have succeeded in bumping West Papua off the global human-rights agenda, and has probably set the stage for a bloody military solution.

The acknowledgement by Freeport McMoran (partly owned by Rio Tinto, the world's largest mining transnational) that it pays money to the armed forces (TNI) for security in its area of operation, confirms suspicions about the close ties between the armed forces and the police and transnational corporations.

Jakarta – Describing their clients as national heroes, attorneys for seven Indonesian soldiers on trial for the killing of a leading politician in independence- minded Papua province, said their clients were innocent and charges against them should be dropped.

Jayapura – Trikora military commander Major-General Mahidin Simbolon had strongly denied rumours (the word he used was 'rumor') that the armed forces has received US$5.6 million from PT. Freeport for guarding the mining company's operations.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The head of Indonesia's military, General Endriartono Sutarto, said he "didn't know" that an American mining company last year paid the military about $US5.6 million to protect its mine where 15 people were shot in an ambush.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Soetarto said on Friday some 600 troops stationed at the Freeport mine in Papua to protect the company's assets receive daily allowances and lunches from the United States-based company.

Jakarta – The US Freeport company paid the Indonesian military (TNI) about US$5.6 million last year to protect employees of its giant copper and gold mine in Papua province, according to a report released Thursday.

Sem Karoba is a student leader and representative of the West Papua Presidium Council (West Papua's alternative to the Indonesian government) who is on his second visit to Ireland, lobbying for international support for his people.

Jayapura – A crowd of some 100 students demonstrated on Monday before the provincial legislature against Jakarta's move to split Papua into three provinces, arguing it would attract more migrants to the natural resources-rich, yet sparely populated region.

John McBeth, Jakarta – The troubled task of clearing the way to resume limited military cooperation between the United States and Indonesia now lies in the hands of agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Craig Skehan – Despite its natural splendours, cultural diversity and tragic history of decolonisation gone awry, Papua has not loomed large in world or regional affairs. But that's about to change. Papua has the potential to become as explosive an issue between Australia and Indonesia as East Timor.

John Martinkus – Forty kilometres from the Papuan capital of Jayapura, its border with PNG has become a no-go area for Indonesian police and human rights workers – and home to Kopassus-run training camps for Laskar Jihad Islamic militants and Papuan militia.

Surabaya – Indonesian prosecutors demanded on Wednesday a two- and-a-half-year jail term for the highest-ranking special forces soldier on trial for the murder of a top Papua independence leader in 2001.

Seven members of the army's elite Kopassus force are on trial over the killing of Theys Eluay, an advocate of separation from Indonesia through peaceful means.

Martin Flanagan – Human rights advocate John Rumbiak fled Papua a year ago. Local police had warned him that his investigation into the assassination of Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay in November 2001 had put his life in danger.

John Martinkus, Jayapura – The border between the Indonesian province of Papua and Papua New Guinea has become a no-go area for Indonesian police and human rights workers, according to human rights and independence groups.

Iggy Kim, Sydney – The Indonesian government's decision to divide West Papua into three provinces is a further attack by Jakarta on the Papuan people's right to self-determination, West Papua Institute for Human Rights supervisor John Rumbiak told a February 20 forum organised by the Uniting Church and the Australia-West Papua Association.

Jakarta – A leading US newspaper, The Washington Post, on Tuesday said it had found "no substantiation" to one of its reports published last year that implicated senior Indonesian military officers in plans for an attack in Papua, AFP reported.

The paper printed a statement on an inside page, following a settlement with lawyers for the military in Jakarta.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military has withdrawn from Papua province a special forces unit, some of whose members are on trial for the murder of a pro-independence leader there.

Jakarta – Lawyers for the Indonesian armed forces said Monday they have agreed to settle their dispute with the Washington Post over a report that implicated senior officers in plans for an attack in Papua province.

Kanis Dursin, Jayapura – The decision to split up Papua into three provinces has eroded what little trust the Papuans had developed toward the government since the implementation of the special autonomy law on January 1, 2002.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Trying to ease the mounting controversy over its decision to split Papua into three provinces, the government is said to be seeking a formula to ensure fair revenues from exploitation of natural resources in Papua.

Port Vila – On Tuesday, 18 February, approximately 1300 non-Papuans traveled in convoy from Abepura to Jayapura in support of the recent presidential decree ordering the partition of Papua. Before leaving, the group gathered in front of the District Office in Abepura and, seeing an anti-partition crowd of about 100 Papuans, they began to heckle and abuse them.

Linda Mottram: A West Papuan human rights campaigner says that ongoing unrest in the Indonesian province is being caused by the violently radical Islamic group, Laskar Jihad, which was thought to have been disbanded.

Timothy Mapes, Jakarta – Just as Indonesia is beginning to bring its most serious armed rebellion under control, separatist tension is flaring again in another province that is home to several of the country's most promising new foreign investments.

John Martinkus, Jakarta – On December 28 last year a car carrying the wife and daughter of a prominent Papuan human rights activist was ambushed by unidentified gunmen between the border posts of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

Denpasar – Dozens of students and youths from Papua held a street rally in front of Bali's provincial legislative compound on Monday to oppose the government decision to split up the province into three.

They argued that the division would trigger horizontal and vertical conflicts in the country's easternmost province.

Simon Elegant – Patricia Spier was heading home from a mountaintop picnic in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua when the ambush began. Out of nowhere, a hail of automatic-weapon fire perforated the two Toyota Land Cruisers in which the American schoolteacher and a group of her colleagues and husband were traveling in.

Jim Buckell – Pressure from the Indonesian Government has forced RMIT University to withdraw official support for a conference on West Papuan independence scheduled for later this month.

The Free Papua Movement's representative in Vanuatu, Andy Ayamiseba, says the Indonesian plan to split Papua province into three is aimed at crushing the independence movement.