WHAT HAPPENED AT COT IJO?
I Matthew Moore's report "Children massacred in Military's bloody rampage" (The Age, 23/5) was in certain instances incomplete and inaccurate, leading readers to wrong judgements.
Moore's account departs significantly from ours, which states that while the soldiers were travelling to Cot Ijo village, they noticed something suspicious near a bridge they had just crossed. Suddenly, the bridge blew up; on inspection they found three young men, known members of GAM, in an empty hut. On their interrogation, one of them began shouting, after which gunfire was heard at the rear of the hut. This triggered a contact between the soldiers and the rebels. The bodies of 10 GAM members were later found.
The matter is under further investigation, but until we have more information we must abstain from finger pointing.
Counsellor
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
Canberra
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Canberra - Australia