Indonesia police arrest 12 over Americans’ killing

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian police have arrested 12
people in connection with the killing of two American teachers
in the remote Papua province more than three years ago, a top
policeman said on Thursday.

Ties between Indonesia and the United States were strained
after the 2002 incident in which gunmen shot at a convoy
carrying teachers from a school run by PT Freeport Indonesia, a
unit of U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, which
operates mines in the Papuan mountains.

In 2003, Congress blocked some military training aid to
Indonesia to show its displeasure.

But ties between Indonesia and the United States have
improved since, and the arrests come after Washington restored
military ties in November with the world’s most populous Muslim
nation as a reward for its assistance in the U.S.-led war on
terrorism.

“The police have arrested the perpetrators behind the
shootings of American nationals in 2002,” national police
deputy spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam said.

“The arrest occurred in Timika last night and was assisted
by the FBI,” he added, referring to the U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation.

Alam said none of the arrested belonged to the Indonesian
military, TNI. The Papua case has been dogged by accusations
that Indonesian troops might have been involved, but there has
been no evidence to back that suggestion.

Asked whether there were soldiers among the arrested group,
Alam said: “No TNI. All of them are Papuans.”

Indonesian police chief Sutanto said one of the 12 was
Anthonius Wamang, a separatist rebel indicted by a U.S. federal
grand jury in 2004 on two counts of murder and several counts
of attempted murder in connection with the killings.

The investigation into the shooting was a key factor behind
the U.S. decision to fully restore military ties with
Indonesia.

Before the resumption, Washington had said full military
ties required prosecution of the people behind the Papua
killings.

Washington cut back military ties after Indonesian troops
shot at demonstrators in East Timor in 1991, killing dozens,
when the tiny territory was ruled by Jakarta.

Ties were severed after pro-Jakarta militias backed by
elements in the military sacked East Timor in 1999 when the
territory voted for independence.