http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/international/asia/25indo.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fInternational%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIndonesia
After Clashes, Indonesian Troops Guard Gold Mine By REUTERS Published: February 25, 2006 JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 24 (Reuters) - Operations at the world's largest gold mine, owned by the American company Freeport McMoRan, were suspended for a third day on Friday after local residents clashed with security officers and the police in the remote province of Papua, government officials said. Operations had been suspended since Wednesday, a day after miners armed with bows and arrows fought with security officers and the police. On Friday, the government put the military in charge of security at the mine, Grasberg, after three days of violence that erupted when security officers and government officials tried to force out the miners, who then blocked access to the site. "The Freeport plant is still shut down this morning," said M. S. Marpaung, deputy director of investment at the mines and energy ministry. The mine also holds the world's third-largest copper reserves. Copper shipments had not been affected, Mr. Marpaung said, but he was not sure how long stocks would last. The Freeport operation has been a source of controversy in Indonesia on issues ranging from its treatment of the environment to the legality of payments to Indonesian security forces who have guarded the facility. The continued suspension of mining came a day after about 50 Papuan students attacked a building housing Freeport's offices in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. The Papuans smashed windows in the lobby of the building and set fire to a travel agency on the ground floor, but failed to reach Freeport's offices on higher floors. After The New York Times reported in December that from 1998 through 2004 Freeport paid nearly $20 million to individual military and police officers and units in Papua, a number of Indonesian politicians called for investigations of Freeport's payments and its environment practices. Freeport said the payments were within American and Indonesian laws. Mr. Marpaung said he had asked the regional government to negotiate with the protesters to solve the problem. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
