FROM the air, the Baliem valley looks like old green fragments fenced in by a snake-like, white river. The valley, spread out east of the high plains of Jayawijaya in Papua, is like a beautiful mystery. But when you look at it from the ground, what stands out is the scorched town of Wamena. The last two weeks of bloody rioting have resulted in at least 40 people dead, more wounded and hundreds fleeing. Wamena will never be the same again.

The ri