DEMONSTRATORS rallied in Jayapura yesterday demanding that recently elected president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono allow international negotiators to end the decades-long conflict in Papua.
The protest by up to 500 students came as church leaders and civil groups began lobbying Mr Yudhoyono for Papuan self rule in Indonesia's easternmost province. Many Papuans, who voted overwhelmingly for Mr Yudhoyono in the September elections, are hopeful he will finally implement a progressive autonomy law.