The Jakarta Post, 1/30/2003 2:40:39 PM
U.S. finds TNI killed U.S. teachers in Timika ambush: Times
JAKARTA (JP): A senior U.S official accused the National Military (TNI) carried out a
deadly ambush that killed two American teachers and an Indonesian in Timika last
year, New York Times reported.
"There is no question there was military involvement. There is no question it
waspremeditated," Karen Brooks, the National Security Council's senior Asian
specialist who is said to have a personal and professional relationship with President
Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Reuter quoted the Times report from Jakarta in Thursday's editions.
President George W. Bush secretly dispatched an influential emissary last month to
tell President Megawati that the Indonesians must mount a serious investigation with
FBI participation.
Two F.B.I. agents arrived in Indonesia last week to help in the investigation by the
National Police.The military has denied any involvement in theambush, which also
wounded eight Americans.
"The administration official and diplomats from other countries said there was still a
mystery about who ordered the killings and why. They said the most likely
explanation was that soldiers were trying to send a message to the teachers'
employer, an American company that operates one of the world's largest copper and
gold mines in the area. The company,Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, had
reduced payments and other benefits to soldiers," the officials told the Times.
Freeport has declined to answer any questions about the killings or about payments
to the police and the military.
"This is a police matter, and we cannot comment on the ongoing investigation," a
company spokesman, Siddharta Moersjid, said.
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