PAPUA -- SEPARATISTS KILL POLICE IN REMOTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000687 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, EAP/ANP NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINS ID SUBJECT: PAPUA -- SEPARATISTS KILL POLICE IN REMOTE HIGHLAND REGION REF: A. JAKARTA 681 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. JAKARTA 521 Classified By: Acting Pol/C Stanley Harsha, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Separatists killed one police officer and wounded six others in a remote highland area of Papua province in eastern Indonesia on April 15. Police blamed a faction of the Papua Freedom Movement (OPM) but would not confirm that the attack was linked to a recent spate of violent incidents in the troubled province. Following a Cabinet meeting on the subject, President Yudhoyono ordered the security forces to ensure calm in Papua. Mission has so far been unable to confirm media reports of a major clash near the border with Papua New Guinea. END SUMMARY. DEADLY AMBUSH ¶2. (U) Separatist fighters ambushed a convoy of the Indonesian National Police's Mobile Brigade killing one officer and wounding six on April 15 in remote Puncak Jaya District in Papua's central highlands. Provincial Police Chief General Bagus Ekodanto blamed a faction of the Papua Freedom Movement led by Goliat Tabuni. (Note: Tabuni's group has carried out a number of attacks in the highland region since January, when they raided a police post and made off with several firearms. See ref B). Ekodanto said police were investigating whether the attack was related to a series of violent incidents that began a few days before the April 9 legislative elections but could not confirm the link. (See ref A). HIGH LEVEL CONCERN ¶3. (C) President Yudhoyono ordered the security forces to maintain calm in Papua following an April 15 Cabinet meeting on the subject. Papua Governor Suebu told the cabinet that the situation in Papua was increasingly tense, according to his Chief of Staff Agus Sumule. Suebu urged the security forces to prevent any further incidents but also cautioned that a heavy-handed security response could provoke further incidents. Yudhoyono dispatched Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo to Papua to oversee the GOI's response to the situation. Djohermansyah Djohan, an adviser to VP Jusuf Kalla told poloff that the cabinet agreed on the need for a firm but measured response to avoid an escalation in violence. ¶4. (C) The Indonesian military (TNI) upped its alert status in the province but did not plan to bring additional troops into Papua. TNI commander in Papua Major General A.Y. Nasution said soldiers would guard police stations in the province, at the request of the police. DUBIOUS STORIES ¶5. (C) Mission has so far been unable to confirm stories of a major clash between the TNI and Papuan separatists near the border with Papua New GUINEA (PNG). The reports, which appeared in the PNG and New Zealand media, claimed the clash left six soldiers and five rebels dead. They also claimed that the OPM downed a TNI C-130 cargo aircraft. Our contacts in the police, provincial government and NGOs have been unable to confirm these stories. HUME