[Onthebarricades] West Papua news

[Andy]

*  Ecosystems die while government fiddles
*  Indonesian police hit and run, then beat survivors

*  Pacific churches want focus on Papua

*  More troops to Papua by 2017

*  Papuan genocide targets church

*  International cooperation needed to save rainforests says Indonesia

*  Papua's rainforests and global warming

*  Growth of Islam in Melanesia:  heeding the call to prayer in a region 
that reveres the pig

[including some discussion of Islamic involvement in West Papua]


http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0709/S00006.htm

Eco-systems die while Government Fiddles.
Sunday, 2 September 2007, 2:24 pm
Press Release: Green Party

Ancient eco-systems of Pacific and SE Asia die while Govt. fiddles
Green Media Release    2 Sept 2007
New government rules aimed at helping to slow widespread devastation of 
ancient "paradise forests" in South East Asia and the Pacific only go part 
way, says Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman.
He says the Green Party welcomes the Government's new "sustainable 
procurement guidelines" just released but is disappointed they will still 
allow government departments to purchase tropical timber products from a 
source that the procurement policy itself defines as unsustainable.
"The new sustainable procurement policy is welcome and makes progress in 
many areas," Dr Norman says.
"However, it is absurd that the government guide to sustainable procurement 
endorses the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) scheme  as 
meeting all the `legal sourcing and sustainably managed requirements' (p.12) 
when the table on the very next page reveals that the MTCC scheme certifies 
timber that is not sustainable and only legal under certain conditions. (See 
the pdf of the document here.)
"The Government's own report says MTCC certified timber is not sustainable 
and not always legal, so why does MTCC certified timber get the tick of 
approval for sustainable procurement?"
Dr Norman says it is important to get these government guidelines right 
because they may be used as a guideline for all New Zealanders trying to 
avoid purchases of tropical timbers such as kwila. New Zealand's trade in 
kwila often entails human rights abuses and destruction of rare eco-systems 
and unique wildlife in West Papua and Papua New Guinea, where Malaysian 
loggers are prominent.
"The Norwegian Government banned the use of all tropical timber in their 
sustainable procurement policy released just two months ago because of the 
difficulties in ascertaining whether any tropical timber is legal and 
sustainable. Yet here is the New Zealand Government not only allowing the 
use of questionable tropical timber but actually endorsing one of the 
guaranteed unsustainable sources of tropical timber, MTCC certified timber.
"Malaysian logging companies have a long record of illegal and unsustainable 
clearing of rainforests throughout Asia and the Pacific. Many reports, 
including from the World Bank, have linked the Malaysian logging company 
Rimbunan Hijau to illegal and unsustainable logging and the human rights 
abuses of those indigenous people who dared to stand up against Rimbunan, 
including in PNG and West Papua where most of our kwila is thought to come 
from.
"For the New Zealand Government to endorse the sustainability of the 
Malaysian logging is an affront to all those people who have fought Malaysia's 
rapacious loggers. The sustainable procurement policy should ban the use of 
all tropical timber in government projects until we have some idea that the 
timber is genuinely sustainable and legal, just as the Norwegian Government 
has done."
Note: The Green Party will continue its protests against the ANZ Banking 
Group - for financially supporting the Malaysian logging corporation 
Rimbunan Hijau - at the ANZ offices on the corner of Featherston St and 
Lambton Quay, Wellington, at 8am tomorrow.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0709/S00067.htm

Indo Cops 'Hit And Run' Then Beat Survivors
Tuesday, 4 September 2007, 11:40 am
Press Release: Institute for Papuan Advocacy

Indonesian Police 'hit and run' and then beat survivors in Nabire, West 
Papua
Nabire, West Papua: Police crash a police car into a group of five West 
Papuan youths, killing one and critically injuring two others, report human 
rights workers in Nabire.
Decky Nagapa (22 years old), a farmer from Wonerejo village, close to Nabire 
died at the scene. After the incident the four police personnel in the car 
including the driver were reported to have fled from the scene. Three of the 
Policemen except the driver then returned to the scene of the incident.
The Human rights workers report that the survivors, Deni Nakapa (27 years 
old) and Januarius Zonggenau (20 years old) both students from Wonerejo, who 
both suffering severe injuries, were then savagely beaten by police while 
being transported to the hospital.
Januarius Zonggenau (20 years old) was so badly beaten by police that he was 
unconscious when he arrived at the hospital.
The incident occurred two weeks ago on the 17th of August, Indonesia's 
Independence Day.
The deceased and the two injured men are all from the Moni tribal group.
The two injured men suffered substantial injuries to the head, arms, back, 
and legs. Both men were admitted to the Public hospital in Siriwini. Both 
men were released on the 31st of August.
Zonggenau and Nakapa are both students studying in Manodo, Sulawesi and were 
visiting home for the holidays. Manado is the home of a sizeable and 
politically active West Papuan student population.
According to two witnesses at the scene, the driver and the three 
passengers - all policemen and driving a police owned car - clearly saw the 
men sitting by the side of the road when the car suddenly turned towards the 
men and increased speed.
The two injured survivors were then forced into a police car where they were 
beaten by police before being taken to hospital.
The driver of the police car, reported to be Rizal Asal from Buton in 
Sulawesi, is in police custody. Witnesses say that the car involved in the 
incident is a light blue Kijang displaying police license plate number DS 
7472.
The names of the other three policemen at this stage are not known and it is 
unclear whether these men are under investigation or not. Witnesses and 
advocates of the three men are calling for a full investigation and charges 
to be laid against the three policemen as well as the driver.
This tragic incident is the latest in a series of recent incidents in 
Nabire. This includes recent "mysterious" killings of a church youth leader 
and human rights advocate Matius Bunai (29 years old) and teh killing of 
Ones Keiya (31 years old), a farmer. In addition human rights and local 
church workers in Nabire are being threatened.
Troops stationed in Nabire are also carrying out military operations in the 
Jamo valley inland of Nabire. Several weeks ago there was also a mass food 
poisoning event in Nabire which left scores of people sick and and many 
being admitted to hospital.
Also last week in Nabire there have been protests by students over 
corruption in the education department and a strike by teachers in the last 
week over lack of pay which closed 196 primary schools in the district.
Spokesperson for the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights, Paula 
Makabory said today, "It is incredible that the Indonesian Police can do 
anything they like to Papuan people and get away with it. The Indonesian 
security forces are expanding a campaign of terror against the Papuan people 
in Nabire and a number of regional centres in West Papua."
"The Central government in Jakarta appears to have no interest in 
controlling their security forces. These security forces are working to 
cause conflict with the Papuan community. Human rights abuses in West Papua 
are increasing and it seems like the policy is supported by Jakarta. "
"You have to think that the Indonesian government sanctions this kind of 
intimidation and abuse of the West Papuan people. The Governments policy of 
Special Autonomy has failed in West Papua. The security forces are now 
tightening their control and carrying out repression of the community. A 
human rights crisis is unfolding in Nabire and the world must take notice."

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35056

Pacific churches put spotlight on plight of Papuans in Indonesia
Posted at 03:29 on 12 September, 2007 UTC
The Pacific Conference of Churches 9th Assembly in American Samoa wants the 
international community and the World Council of Churches to look in to 
human rights violations and denials of self-determination in Indonesia's 
Papua region.
A resolution approved by the assembly expresses the PCC's solidarity with 
the people of West Papua.
The resolution deplores the ongoing denial of self-determination for the 
indigenous peoples of Papua and specifically the violation of the basic 
rights of those peoples by the Indonesian government.
The resolution also highlights the widespread exploitation and destruction 
of Papua's natural resources by the administration and by foreign investors, 
without consent and against the interests of the peoples of West Papua.

www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20070913.H01

More troops eyed for Papua by 2014
National News - September 13, 2007
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Army has proposed a third infantry division for their 
Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in Papua, which would see more guards 
made available to patrol Papua border areas and other conflict-prone 
regions.
The Army needs financial assistance from the government however before its 
proposal can be realized.
"Indonesia is a huge archipelagic country, which is geographically and 
politically strategic among the international community," Army Chief of 
Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso said.
He spoke to reporters after chairing the handover ceremony for the post of 
Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) chief from Maj. Gen. Rasyid Qurnuen Aquary 
to Brig. Gen. Soenarko at the Kopassus headquarters in East Jakarta on 
Wednesday.
"We need a strong armed forces to maintain the unity of our country.
"If we can secure financial support from the government, the third infantry 
division of Kostrad is expected to be established by 2014," Djoko told 
Antara.
He said they have also considered establishing more cavalry and engineering 
battalions to guard the country's border areas and conflict zones.
The establishment of a third division was first suggested in the early 
1980s.
"But the idea (was not made a) reality until I became Army chief," he said.
"The expansion (of Kostrad) is necessary ... to establish a stronger defense 
system."
"Ideally, Kostrad must have three divisions.
"But financial constraint has... (seen us with) two infantry divisions and 
an infantry brigade," he added.
Currently, Kostrad has two divisions -- the first is in Cilodong, Bogor, 
south of Jakarta and the second is located in Malang, East Java.

http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?breve1618

Indonesia : Papuan Genocide - terror targets Church.
jeudi 20 septembre 2007

Indonesia : Papuan Genocide - terror targets Church.
 pray for God to intervene on behalf of his people in Papua.
By Elizabeth Kendal
Ones Keiya (31) was found dying beside a road in Nabire, West Papua, on the 
evening of 23 July 2007. He died in hospital hours later from injuries that 
included deep lacerations to his head, hands and feet as well as a smashed 
skull. Keiya was a local indigenous Papuan farmer and member of the 
Maranatha Kingmi Protestant Church. On 7 August, Matius Bunai (29), a youth 
worker with the Kingmi church, was also found dead with injuries the same as 
Keiya's. He had been ambushed the night before on his way home from a church 
meeting. A church worker says the police are refusing to investigate the 
killings which the Papuan community is certain were committed by Indonesian 
security forces.
Indonesia has closed West Papua to the outside world and murdered its 
nationalist leaders. Security is controlled by known abusers of human rights 
and killers such as Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, indicted for crimes against 
humanity in East Timor. In the midst of this dangerous, volatile and 
repressive environment, courageous church leaders risk their lives and use 
their networks and international connections to keep getting news of the 
Papuan genocide out to the world.
Rev Sofian Socratez Yoman is President of the Fellowship of West Papuan 
Baptist Churches. He is a courageous, outspoken critic of Indonesia's 
genocidal policies and human rights abuses in the province. On Sunday 
evening 29 July, a group of Indonesian police, soldiers and intelligence 
officers harassed and threatened him at gunpoint outside the Baptist Church 
service in Jayapura. Paula Makabory of the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & 
Human Rights warns, 'My organisation is very concerned about Sofian Yoman's 
personal safety.' According to Yoman, Indonesian military intelligence has 
infiltrated the church and is working to subvert and divide it. West Papua 
News and Information reports that on Sunday morning 2 September, Indonesian 
military, police and intelligence agents distributed leaflets throughout 
Jayapura picturing and defaming Sofian Yoman and Agus Alue-Aluay, Chairman 
of the Papuan People's Council (Majelis Rakyat Papua MRP).
Since granting Special Autonomy to Papua in 2001 the Indonesian authorities 
have increased their repression and terrorisation of Papuans. The Indonesian 
military (TNI) frequently provoke clashes and fake incidents which they then 
cite to justify killings, massacres and ethnic cleansing. The Freeport 
killings at Timika in 2002 are one such example. Rev Ishak Onawame and two 
of his church workers, Esau Onawame and Yarius Kiwak are amongst seven 
Papuans languishing in Cipinang Prison, Jakarta, after being betrayed by the 
FBI (USA) and framed by the Indonesian courts to cover up TNI involvement in 
the killings (thus protecting Indonesian, TNI and US interests). The TNI has 
proposed that a third infantry division be sent to the province to monitor 
separatists and patrol borders. Furthermore, the Javanese Muslim immigrant 
population increases by some 5000 weekly.
The Papuan genocide is essentially about greed, corruption and exploitation 
of Papuan resources. However, it is also about Islamic imperialism and 
Javanese Muslim religious and racial hatred of the predominantly Christian 
indigenous Papuans. Whilst the Papuan genocide is being perpetrated by 
Indonesian hands, Western democratic 'Christian' governments that promote 
liberty and rights are complicit. Though they once facilitated the 
evangelisation of the Papuans (one of the great mission stories of the 20th 
century) they are now by their silence supporting the Papuans' annihilation, 
as economic and geo-strategic interests are deemed more important than human 
life or moral integrity.

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35287

International co-operation needed to save Papuan rainforests, says Indonesia
Posted at 18:29 on 23 September, 2007 UTC
Indonesia's government says the best chances of saving Papua's tropical 
rainforests increasingly rest with co-operation among the international 
community.
Indonesia plans to join with Papua New Guinea and at least 9 other 
developing countries with tropical forests in a coalition to fight climate 
change.
Other countries on board are Brazil, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Columbia, 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malaysia, Mexico and Peru.
The coalition aims to press wealthy nations to pour money into offsetting 
the impacts of global warming.
The Minister for the Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, says their coalition 
campaign ties in with efforts to mitigate illegal logging of the Papua 
region's native forests.
"There is a large area of rainforest and a lot of it is destroyed. But we're 
trying to stop the destruction and we hope that the Europeans, the Americans 
and, I don't know, maybe the New Zealanders - they buy the furniture coming 
from here (Papuan forests) - I hope they stop buying these things and then 
maybe they can stop selling it."
The Minister for the Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, says the coalition will 
be officially launched next April

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20071006.F04&irec=3

Papua's forests and global warming
Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua
Papua is the size of California and is almost entirely covered by vast 
stretches of virgin rain forest spread over 41.5 million hectares -- or 23 
percent of Indonesia's total forested area of 180 million hectares.
But some 22 million hectares of these forests are classified as production 
forests, rather than conservation areas.
Indonesian control over the territory of Papua has seen the region's forests 
suffer deforestation at the hands of foreign and domestic private companies.
First, during the Soeharto regime, Papua's forests were targeted by logging 
industries authorized by the Jakarta-based central government.
Up until 2001, as many as 40 logging companies -- none of which were owned 
by the indigenous Papuans -- were active in Papua, with permission from the 
central government.
The timber companies, without any interference, were able to cut down trees 
in Papua and sell them to foreign countries.
According to Greenpeace, more than 25 percent of Papua's natural forests has 
been sold by timber firms exporting to Japan, the U.S., European countries 
and China.
Second, as the timber business is worth billions of dollars annually, 
Papua's forests have also been targeted by illegal logging companies.
Pressure on Papua's forests has progressively increased due to overseas 
demand, notably from China.
In 2003, some 7.2 million cubic meters of timber was reportedly smuggled out 
of Papua.
An investigation carried out by the London-based Environmental Investigation 
Agency (EIA) revealed "illegal logging in Papua typically involves the 
collusion of the Indonesian military, the involvement of Malaysian logging 
gangs and the exploitation of indigenous communities".
Due to deforestation in Papua, both legal and illegal, Indonesia has been 
listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the country with the fastest 
pace of deforestation in the world. (The Jakarta Post, June 4, 2007).
Indeed, Papua's forests have contributed approximately US$100 million to the 
central government annually.
Third, despite the government's efforts to combat unauthorized logging 
activities, Papua's forests continue to suffer from illegal logging. 
Furthermore, Papua's forests are now being targeted by the palm oil industry 
as well as the timber industry.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has already asked Papua's governor 
Barnabas Suebu to open up five million hectares of land for conversion into 
palm oil plantations, in a drive to increase biofuel production and reduce 
state spending on domestic petrol subsidies (The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 
10, 2007).
The government of Malaysia, the world's largest palm oil producer, invited 
Suebu to see for himself how palm oil plantations can spur economic growth.
Plantation companies from Jakarta and Malaysia have been running out of 
space in other parts of Indonesia. Meanwhile, European demand for biofuel 
remains strong, therefore Papua's virgin forests will continue to be 
targeted by palm oil producers.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and its Indonesian partner, 
PT. Sinar Mas Agro Resources &Technology, have announced they signed an 
agreement with Jakarta to invest $5 billion over eight years to develop palm 
oil plantations in Papua.
PT Sinar Mas is expected to clear some 1,2 million hectares of Papua's rain 
forests in Boven Digul, Merauke and Mappi regencies to make way for palm-oil 
plantations.
Meanwhile, a Korean company in collaboration with a national company, is 
also planning to fell trees to clear the path for palm oil plantations.
So, it is clear that some millions of hectares of Papua's virgin forests 
will be deliberately cleared by government-authorized palm oil companies.
In other words, deforestation in Papua for the sake of the palm oil industry 
is being permitted by the government.
The government and the palm oil companies should be reminded that rain 
forests play a key role in maintaining the world's environmental balance. 
They need to realize that deforestation in Papua causes not only 
environmental damage to the western half of the island of New Guinea, but 
also affects global warming.
As the government destroys more and more hectares of Papua's forests in the 
name of economic growth, a global warning on deforestation is urgently 
needed and should be raised by parties in Papua, Jakarta and from other 
nations.
Clearing our ancient forests to make way for economy-boosting palm oil 
plantations is not the only way to enhance economic growth in the country. 
The government should seek other ways to improve economic growth in Papua, 
and in general, Indonesia.
The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and 
Theology in Abepura, Papua.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/heeding-the-call-to-prayer-in-a-region-that-reveres-the-pig/2007/09/07/1188783496490.html

Heeding the call to prayer in a region that reveres the pig

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September 8, 2007
Page 1 of 4 | Single page
Islam is taking root in Melanesia, writes Ben Bohane. The question is: will 
it be a transplanted faith - or can it take on a distinctly Pacific 
identity?
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Those who think the Pacific Islands and Christianity are forever entwined 
need to think again. Christianity has reached its high-tide mark in the 
region, and other faiths, including Baha'ism, Buddhism, Jewish cults and 
traditional beliefs, are making inroads.
But by far the most significant new religious movement in the region is 
Islam, and nowhere is the growth of Islam more visible than in Melanesia, 
which has a culture of religious dynamism and experimentation, where kastom 
(custom) rules, and where cargo cult and Christian movements continue to 
evolve, blend, mutate, syncretise and spawn new belief systems. Islam can 
now be added to the mix and its effect on local beliefs, national politics 
and regional security can no longer be overlooked.
Although there are no official figures and few academic studies, it is 
believed there have been more than 1000 indigenous converts to Islam in 
recent years in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. 
Other Melanesian territories including East Timor, Maluku and West Papua 
have much older links to Islam, with communities existing there for 
centuries comprising indigenous and settler Muslims. New Caledonia also has 
a large number of Muslims who have settled there from all over the 
Francophone world over the past 100 years.
For Mohammed Seddiq, a ni-Vanuatu Muslim who provided land and a small 
building which houses Vanuatu's first mosque, conversion to Islam did not 
happen overnight, but over many years, until he felt that "Allah had truly 
called me".
"I was a Pentecostal Christian before but I didn't feel in control of my 
life and I had a problem with alcohol," he says. "Islam is straightforward 
and disciplined and this is what I needed to be a better person in the eyes 
of Allah. You know, the Bible is only full of stories, but I found that the 
Koran gives direction to life."
Today there are between 100 and 200 ni-Vanuatu converts to Islam, and 
mosques are springing up in the outer islands of the archipelago. Chiefs are 
often the target of proselytising African Muslims, on the often correct 
assumption that if they convert then their extended families, clans and 
other islanders are likely to follow suit. Islam is taking root through a 
curiosity factor, its anti-imperial rhetoric and, most importantly, its 
similarities to local cultures and belief systems.
First among these similarities is the fact that Islam developed from a 
tribal Arabic culture and maintains decision-making bodies like Melanesian 
chiefly councils. The notion of "payback" or "an eye for an eye" is one that 
resonates strongly in Melanesian tradition. Although Christian influence is 
strong, Jesus's exhortation to turn the other cheek has not been largely 
adopted by Melanesians, who are often frustrated that Western law does not 
compensate victims, unlike traditional Melanesian and Islamic law.
Polygamy and gender separation (such as men's houses and women's houses in 
Melanesia) are common to both cultures. Seddiq in Vanuatu even suggests that 
since his people traditionally sat on mats, mosques feel more natural to 
them than churches with pews.
Islam offers a way of life that incorporates the social, political, 
spiritual and economic spheres. Before European contact, Pacific islanders 
lived in theocratic states, where the whole structure of daily life and 
political decision-making revolved around the spirit world.
Part of the problem Western observers have in understanding the region is 
that they tend to have a secular outlook and place primacy of their analysis 
on the role of the state (for example, issues of good governance, 
corruption, service delivery and unemployment) when the world view of 
Melanesians is virtually the opposite - their daily lives remain governed by 
kastom, community obligations and subsistence agriculture.
They place little emphasis on the role of the state since it is an 
introduced concept, heavily centralised in the capital cities with usually 
little impact on daily lives in rural and remote areas.
Scott Flower, a PhD student at the Crawford School of Pacific Policy at the 
Australian National University in Canberra, is watching the growth of Islam 
in Melanesia closely. "Melanesian people generally do not comprehend or 
desire the separation of religion and the state," he says. "The centrality 
of religion in their daily life is very important."
Flower argues that Muslim communities in each country will continue to grow 
in size and number because, like Christianity, Islam and its associated 
organisations provide islanders with public good (such as health and 
education), a moral and spiritual system, access to global networks, and 
opportunities, prestige and alternative paths to social and political power.
Many Pacific Islanders would argue that if governments or Christian missions 
cannot provide basic services, particularly in health and education, then 
they are happy to take them from wherever they are offered. Families from 
poor squatter settlements in Port Moresby, Port Vila and other urban centres 
are sending their children for the free education at Islamic schools in 
Malaysia, Yemen, Fiji and Saudi Arabia.
Twenty-eight local Muslims from Vanuatu are studying in Islamic colleges in 
Fiji, Malaysia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan. Given that 
Vanuatu is the smallest country in Melanesia, it is likely that at any one 
time hundreds of Pacific Muslims are in schools throughout the Islamic 
world.
Foreign and local missionaries often suggest that what Muslim missionaries 
offer is not conversion, but reversion - that is, by embracing Islam, 
islanders are returning to kastom and ancestral ways.
But with so much of kastom relating to pork-eating, betel nut-chewing, 
kava-drinking, courtship dancing and ancestor worship - all not halal for 
those who truly embrace Islam - the question is: what kastom is left? Can 
Pacific kastom find a place within orthodox Islam?
This goes to the heart of one of the central questions facing Islam 
globally: can Islam separate its faith and philosophy from Arabic cultural 
practices?
There is also the issue of Pacific Islanders not being fully aware of the 
breadth of the faith, from the tolerant, mystical Sufi tradition, to 
orthodox Sunni and Shia beliefs, to militant Wahabiism, to explicitly 
non-violent sects such as the Ahmadiyyah.
Pigs are going to be an issue when it comes to spreading Islam in the 
Pacific. For most islanders, pigs are more than just domestic animals that 
clean up the scraps. They are revered as symbols of wealth and as important 
commodities for gift exchange, marriage, reconciliation ceremonies and 
compensation. Some communities even have mystical pig cults. Chiefs in 
Vanuatu often wear circular pig tusks as a sign of their status. A tusk 
adorns the country's flag.
How will Islam deal with this? It seems Muslims are taking their cue from 
Christians such as Seventh Day Adventists, who view pigs as unclean. In 
Adventist communities, islanders can own pigs and give them in ceremonies, 
without ever having to touch or eat them.
Already there is debate at the Hohola Mosque in Port Moresby on what kind of 
Islam is most suitable for this part of the world. Regular exchanges with 
members of Papua New Guinea's Catholic, Anglican, Baha'i and Buddhist clergy 
are a cause for optimism that communal tensions can be kept in check. But 
given that much of the mosque's funding has come from Saudi and Malaysian 
sources, and the fact that its imam is a Nigerian steeped in Wahabiism (a 
puritanical Muslim ideology) many ask if this the most appropriate form of 
Islam for PNG and the region.
Yaqub Amaki, the general secretary for the PNG Muslim Association, says: "I 
can say that we have already had some very robust discussions on this issue. 
Some of us think that a more moderate interpretation, found in countries 
like Malaysia and Indonesia, will be more appropriate for the umma 
[community] here. We are still finding our way here and while there are no 
real divisions in Islam, there are different paths and we need to be open to 
debate.
"Since the Saudis and Malaysians were here in the beginning to assist us, it 
is only natural that we should follow their lead, but I am confident that 
Islam here will gradually take on a more PNG style over time."
While Islam is being quietly and peacefully absorbed into central and 
eastern Melanesian nations and most parts of the Pacific, the same cannot be 
said for those in western Melanesia, particularly those regions under 
Indonesian rule.
Here, jihadi groups flourish and sectarian conflict periodically explodes. 
In Ambon and Maluku more than 10,000 people died in sectarian conflict 
between Christians and Muslims in the late 1990s.
In West Papua, the OPM (Free West Papua Movement) has for years warned that 
militant groups such as Jemaah Islamiah and Laskar Jihad are operating there 
to suppress the independence movement, springboarding across unpatrolled 
borders into neighbouring PNG, Australia and other Pacific islands.
The OPM commander, John Koknak, says there are more than a dozen jihad 
training camps in West Papua. "I have been warning Australia and PNG for 
some time, but they prefer to trust the generals in Jakarta," he says.
"You know, Islam in the Pacific is nothing new; JI is using the same 
networks as the Libyan Mataban groups who came here in the 1980s to set up 
cells and support Pacific liberation groups."
His assessment is supported by "Robert", a PNG intelligence operative with 
responsibility for border security, who complains of regular infiltration by 
militant groups and people smugglers across the unmonitored 800-kilometre 
border with Indonesia. Like other members of the defence force, he believes 
Australia's and the US's pro-Jakarta policy is undermining regional 
security.
"By refusing to talk to OPM or acknowledge the West Papuan struggle, 
Australia is missing out on valuable intelligence that OPM can provide on 
jihadi groups," he says.
The regional security analyst Rohan Gunaratna also believes West Papua is 
home to several militant Islamic groups. "If militant Islamic groups 
maintain their presence in West Papua then certainly their influence will 
spread into the Pacific; it is only a matter of time," he says.
"That is why it is time for Australia to change its Java-centric focus and 
concentrate more on eastern Indonesia."
So is there a serious Islamist terrorist threat in the Pacific?
Says Flower: "While the more alarmist government and media scenarios of 
terrorist threats in the Pacific are undoubtedly inflated, the other 
perspective of a completely benign security environment is also likely to be 
incorrect."
As Islam spreads it will be intriguing to see just how well the Pacific way 
can blend with the teachings of an Arabian prophet whose desert visions are 
now settling over the scattered islands of a faraway sea.