UN soldier's murder unsolved

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The investigation into the killing of a New Zealand-born UN peacekeeper by an East Timorese militiaman last year is hanging in the balance due to a lack of additional evidence, an official said on Thursday.

Robert Tacoy, a spokesman for the East Nusa Tenggara provincial prosecutor's office, said the prosecutors had written to the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), asking for the return of the automatic rifle believed to have been used to shoot the UN soldier, Leonard Maning, the postmortem report on the victim and the attendance of two of Maning's comrades in Kupang to give testimony.

"Without the evidence, we cannot proceed with the investigation," Robert said.

UNTAET had questioned the prospects for the investigation after the suspect, Yacobus Bere, surrendered to Belu Police on Jan. 15 after six months on the run.

Later, Indonesian Army troops discovered during a weapons search the rifle that had killed Maning and returned it to the UN peacekeeping force. The weapon belonged to Maning, who was on border patrol in Suai when a group of pro-Jakarta militiamen ambushed the UN troops. (36)