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By Newsweek Editors
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Jim Bob Moffett sees the flames spreading into his backyard. As boss of New Orleans-based Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, operating the world's biggest copper and gold mine in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province, he has kept a close eye on the separatist fires engulfing East Timor and Aceh, where police wounded 10 independence protesters on Saturday. Moffett has reason to be wary of the restive Irianese: they view him as an old pal of Indonesia's ousted dictator, Suharto.
Violence erupted last week near Moffett's mine when protesters displayed the emblem of the Free Papua movement. Police wounded 55. Moffett, hoping to cover his flanks, has named a judge who served on a war-crimes tribunal in Yugoslavia as his mine's special counsel on human rights. Amid such turmoil, it can't hurt to have an experienced lawyer on board.
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