Four U.S. security officials investigate Papua ambush
Four U.S. security officials investigate Papua ambush
R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
Four United States security officials, allegedly including an FBI
agent, are visiting Papua to help look into last week's ambush
that killed two Americans and one Indonesian as Indonesian troops
ceased their pursuit of suspected attackers.
Papua police chief Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika said on
Thursday that the four arrived on Wednesday accompanied by the
U.S. defense attache chief from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta.
"They have interviewed me about the attack," he said in the
provincial capital of Jayapura.
Military sources in Timika town, near gold and copper mine PT
Freeport Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post Thursday that one of
the four U.S. security officials was an FBI agent.
However, Pastika denied the suggestion, saying: "I know them
as security officials from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and their
staff members".
However, FBI agents have started to investigate the deadly
attack in Papua by visiting eight of the wounded -- seven
Americans and one Indonesian -- treated in Townsville Hospital,
Australia.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Canberra told AP on
Tuesday that an Australia-based FBI agent had interviewed the
patients as part of an investigation to determine if the ambush
was the work of terrorists.
It was not clear whether the suspected FBI agent currently in
Timika was the one who questioned the hospitalized victims in
Australia.
Australian consular officials from Jakarta are currently in
Papua to assess security conditions in Freeport and to meet
Australians working there.
Pastika ruled out any possible foreign assistance to track
down the attackers and investigate the bloody incident.
"We are still able to do the job," he said.
He also said that a forensic team from Jakarta arrived in
Timika on Thursday to help investigate the incident.
"They will begin the probe tomorrow (Friday)," Pastika said.
Meanwhile, Papua Military Commander Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon
said Thursday that security personnel had ceased pursuing the
gunmen, believed to have fled into the jungle near the open-pit
mine.
He said military personnel assigned to track down the gunmen
had already withdrawn to their respective posts in Timika.
In addition, Pastika said joint street patrols would be
intensified around the Freeport complex to prevent further
attacks.
On Saturday, around 15 gunmen, whose identities and
whereabouts remain unknown, ambushed two buses carrying teachers
from the Tembaga Pura International School in Freeport. Two
Americans and an Indonesian were killed and 12 others injured.
The military blamed the attack on rebels from the Free Papua
Movement (OPM) led by Kelly Kwalik, who has denied
responsibility.
International human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch on
Thursday joined calls for an independent investigation.
"Because of the repeated failure of Indonesia to impartially
investigate such incidents in Papua, Human Rights Watch urges
Indonesia to convene a panel of independent experts to
investigate the killings," the group said in a statement.