The New Zealand government says its police officers were not involved in training the police in Indonesia, who are alleged to have burnt a village in Papua.
New Zealand's foreign minister Murray McCully has been in Indonesia where he launched an Indonesia-New Zealand Friendship Council.
Jo O'Brien reports
"Concerns have been raised that reports that Indonesian police burnt 29 homes and left 150 Papuans homeless earlier this month could be damaging for New Zealand, as its police force has provided training for Indonesian officers in Papua. But a spokesman for Murray McCully says the police linked to the burning are from a mobile brigade - a separate entity from the officers New Zealand police have been training. Mr McCully's office says Indonesia's foreign minister has assured him there will be a thorough investigation into the earlier discovery of video footage that appears to show Indonesian soldiers torturing two Papuan priests. It says building a relationship with Indonesia through a friendship council should not be put on hold because of abuses in Papua."
