Kopassus suspected of involvement in Papua attack, police say

Kopassus suspected of involvement in Papua attack, police say

The Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers are suspected of involvement in an ambush which killed two Americans near the gold and copper mining site belonging to PT Freeport Indonesia here in August, a senior police officer said Thursday.

Papua deputy police chief Brig. Gen. Raziman Tarigan said a native Papuan told police a week after the ambush that he knew the names of four of 11 soldiers involved in the attack.

Tarigan told AFP that police have photographs of the four.

He said the man, Deky Murib, had been an informer and guide for a local unit of the Kopassus special forces. "He regretted his involvement (in the ambush) and reported to the police," Tarigan said.

He identified the four as a captain, a first lieutenant and two privates but added: "These people are intelligence operatives. They can use any name and rank as they wish."

Two U.S. teachers and an Indonesian colleague were killed when gunmen opened fire on buses near the U.S.-owned giant Freeport mine on Aug. 31.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters has sent an eight- member team to investigate the possible involvement of its personnel in the incident. Tarigan said he had shared information on the suspected involvement of Kopassus with the military team.

Meanwhile, in Jakarta TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said he would seek a public apology from U.S. daily The Washington Post for its report that he and other top military officials had discussed an unspecified operation against Freeport before the ambush, with the aim of discrediting separatist guerrillas of the Free Papua Movement.

He will file a US$1 billion lawsuit against the paper, if they refuse to apologize to him. -- JP