FBI agents to return to probe Papua killing

FBI agents to return to probe Papua killing

JAKARTA: US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents will
return to Indonesia's Papua province within weeks, as part of an
investigation into the murder of two Americans there, a senior
military officer said Wednesday.

The agents will compare the results of their questioning of
civilians and military officers last month with the investigation
carried out by the Indonesian military, said regional military
police chief Colonel Sutarna.

"They will bring the results of their analysis," Sutarna said,
adding the agents were due at the end of this month or in early
April.

The FBI last month questioned 30 soldiers about the August 31
ambush by an armed gang near the US-owned Freeport gold and
copper mine, which killed two US teachers and an Indonesian
colleague.

Twelve others, most of them Americans, were wounded when the
gunmen fired more than 100 rounds at a convoy carrying Freeport
employees.

Sutarna said the military investigation team had yet to find
any suspect in the ambush.

Papua's deputy police chief, Brigadier General Raziman
Tarigan, last November quoted a witness as saying that Kopassus
special forces soldiers were suspected in the attack. He was
later transferred to Jakarta.

Reports of military involvement could seriously undermine US
efforts to resume full military ties with Indonesia, which have
been restricted since 1999 because of the military-backed
violence in East Timor.

Kopassus has denied any role in the murders. Some army
officials have previously blamed the ambush on a poorly-armed
group of separatist rebels. -- AFP