KARTA - The US owners of the giant Freeport gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia have apparently agreed to a demand by tribal leaders for $15 million a year, roughly one per cent of gross annual profits, to the local community in an attempt to ease simmering tensions which resulted in rioting and four deaths last month.
A local church source at a meeting with Freeport on Saturday said local people wanted the money "to go direct to them, not through the regional government or other private parties."
