Human rights group blames Indonesia for famine

A human rights group has accused the Indonesian government of not having enough political will to help people suffering from food shortages in its eastern province of Irian Jaya.

The organisation, the London-based Minority Rights Group, said that despite the prolonged drought in the region, there was sufficient food to avert famine.

But the group said the Indonesian authorities were not making enough effort to distribute resources to indigenous people in remote areas.

About six-hundred people are reported to have died in Irian Jaya as a result of the drought which government officials blame on the weather phenonemon known as El Nino.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service