JAYAPURA, Sept 17 (Reuters) - About 1,000 people marched through the capital of Indonesia's eastern province of Papua on Wednesday to demand a referendum on Papuan independence, a Reuters witness said. The march in Jayapura came days after a string of bomb blasts at an airport in Papua and near a copper mine run by the local unit of U.S. mining firm Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. A separatist group in Papua claimed responsibility for the blasts, saying it wanted the independence issue to be discussed during the U.N. General Assembly meeting this month. In a separate incident in Timika, a town near the Freeport mine, separatists raised the Morning Star flag, the symbol of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), police said. "Independence is our basic right as Papuans. So we hoisted the Morning Star in Timika and marched today for a referendum," Seblon Sambom, spokesman of the protesters, told Reuters. Independence activists in Papua have waged a campaign for nearly 40 years to break away from Indonesia, while a low-level armed rebellion has also simmered, often related to disputes over the sharing of rich natural resources. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to end decades of conflict in Papua and speed up development but critics say rights abuses continue and little has been achieved under the 2001 special autonomy agreement for Papua. Indonesia has denied any systematic violations in Papua, although human rights groups have alleged that security services in the area have routinely abused their powers. (Reporting by Oka Barta Daud and John Pakage; Writing by Telly Nathalia; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
Police watch Papuanese march to the local parliament in Jayapura of the Indonesia's Papua province September 17, 2008. About 1,000 people marched through the capital of Indonesia's eastern province of Papua ...
