IF there is one problem impossible to solve to the satisfaction of all sides, it is perhaps the one involving the Freeport mine at Tembagapura, Papua. Last week, Freeports headquarters in Jakarta was attacked by demonstrators trying to force the closure of the mine. In Tembagapura the main road was blocked by local people angry that they had been forbidden to dig for gold dust in Freeports tailings.

Those people demonstrating, with or without viol