Reuters, 11 Dec 2003 09:10:19 GMT
FBI in Indonesia's Papua to probe American deaths
JAKARTA, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Four FBI agents have been in Indonesia's Papua since
early this week to probe the killing of two Americans in the remote province last year
that strained ties between Washington and Jakarta, police said on Thursday.
Indonesian police have neither made any arrests nor named any suspects from the
August 31, 2002 incident in which gunmen sprayed bullets at a van carrying teachers
from an international school owned by PT Freeport Indonesia, which runs copper and
gold mines in the Papuan mountains.
Accusations Indonesian troops might have been involved in the attack, in which an
Indonesian was also killed, have dogged the case.
The head of the national police criminal investigation department declined to say
whether the agents from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation have
questioned Indonesian soldiers in their third trip to Papua.
"They reached Timika four days ago on Monday. They want to get more information
from there while they are working under the auspices of the Indonesian police,"
General Erwin Mappaseng told reporters, referring to the area where the incident took
place.
"I don't remember all of the names they want to question but what is clear is that they
seek to collect several testimonies."
FBI teams have come to Indonesia twice over a case that has put sensitive relations
between the Indonesian military and foreign facilities in the vast country under the
spotlight.
Because of the shooting, the U.S. Senate has cut off $400,000 in military training
assistance that would have gone to Indonesia next year in an $18.4 billion foreign aid
bill. But the aid ban could be waived by President George W. Bush on national
security grounds.
Separatist rebels in resource-rich Papua, at the eastern end of the sprawling
archipelago, have been waging a low-level insurgency for decades.
The military, which provides security at the site, has blamed the rebels for the attack
and repeatedly denied any role.
However, Indonesian military chief Endriartono Sutarto has said he would not mind if
the agents interview his men.
On Wednesday, U.S.-based Yale University issued a report accusing the Indonesian
government, especially the military, of imposing "conditions of life calculated to bring
about the destruction of West Papuans."
Indonesia's Papua province shares an island with its eastern neighbour, the country of
Papua New Guinea.
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