16 Oct 2004

Armed standoff in Papua after worker killings

8:23 am on 16 October 2004

There are reports that Indonesian security forces are involved in an armed standoff with a group of suspected separatists in the province of Papua.

Police say a number of members of the rebel Free Papua Movement are holed up in a village in the the remote Puncak Jaya area.

The gunmen are wanted for the killings of five non-Papuan Indonesian workers on Tuesday.

The gunmen have refused to give up the bodies of the five workers to negotiators and talks have now broken down.

More than a hundred police and soldiers have been stationed around the village and more are being sent.

More than 800 people have been evacuated from the area.