We are here this time on a working visit to the Cendrawasih Regional Military Command."Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - Britain still recognizes Papua as an integral part Indonesia, a British diplomat said.
"We are here this time on a working visit to the Cendrawasih Regional Military Command," Millie Mc Devitt, Second Secretary in Political Section of the British Embassy, said in a news release issued here on Wednesday.
McDevitt and a group of other officials of the British embassy in Jakarta met with the regional military commander Maj. Gen. Christian Zebua and other regional military officials in this provincial city.
Zebua told the group that security situation in Papua is favorable, saying in general the situation is stable.
"There is a small group (of local people) having different perception of independence, but we do not see them as enemies. They are compatriots who happen to have different view of democracy," he said.
He acknowledged that stability in the region is attributable not only to the military or police but also to big role played by religious and community leaders and other government officials.
The military in carrying out it duty in the field gives priority to territorial development, he said.
"Currently we are cooperating with all components to create a conducive security," he added.
The regional military command is involved in various social activities such as in health care, teaching, farming,livestock raising and fishery to improve the welfare of the people, he said.
"Papua is currently is developing civil order with the military assisting the regional administration and police to accelerate regional development and to maintain public order," he said.
Indonesia had been angered by a British official attending a ceremony opening a Papua separatist representative office in that country recently.
(Uu.H-ASG/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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