Indonesia dismisses commander over troop revolt

Updated at: 1600 PST, Thursday, April 30, 2009

JAKARTA: The commander of an Indonesian army battalion which revolted against its officers in the restive province of Papua has been dismissed from his post, an army spokesman said Thursday.

The move came a day after about 200 troops rioted over their officers’ reported refusal to pay the full costs of returning a dead soldier’s body to his family in another province.

Army chief flies to Papua to quell rampage

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 04/30/2009 7:39 AM | National

Army chief of staff Gen. Agustadi Sasongko flew to Sentani in Papua to meet protesting soldiers who had put Papua on red alert.

On Thursday, Papua Military spokesman Lt. Col. Susilo said Agustadi had left Jakarta on Wednesday night, soon after the soldiers’ violent protest over what they said had been the theft of their money.

“Last night, Bapak (Agustadi) left Jakarta and this morning arrives here, and will head to Sentani to meet the soldiers immediately,” Sasongko told Antara news agency.

Suharto in Inside Indonesia

Most of Western media coverage on Suharto is in a bad tatste. Just like in my previous article titled The Death of Suharto, I would like to add one more comment on a subjective Western perspective. This time I will write a brief comment to an article in one of the most important Foreign Journal on Indonesia, Inside Indonesia. 

The Hardliners on Either Side Need Each Other

I just read an enlightened article from Contradiction Blog with title Who supports what? I should congratulate the way the writer put the objective situation in Papua Indonesia.

It seems to me that the writer is a field researcher or activist who really understand that to distinct between different positions in Papua is often obscured. This may be too simple when we talk about the complexity of Papua’s picture. This may be the situation is really that simple and we can ignore the complexity which has been made for 40 years.