Four more sought over shooting of Americans: Jakarta

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities are hunting for
four more people over the 2002 killing of two Americans in
Papua province, police said on Monday after declaring eight men
suspects in the case last week.

The eight were arrested on Wednesday over an ambush that
killed two Americans and an Indonesian, all teachers from a
school run by PT Freeport Indonesia, a unit of U.S.-based
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., which operates mines in
Papua’s mountains.

“We are now searching for four more,” police chief General
Sutanto said after a meeting between President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and Patsy Spier, the wife of one of the slain
Americans.

Sutanto did not say why police were specifically looking
for four people, but four men detained along with the eight
suspects last week have since been released.

Police dossiers against those eight were nearly complete
and their trials would take place in Jakarta, Sutanto said.

“Statements from some suspects say all of them did it. But
we need to get input from more witnesses, including from the
Americans who have returned to the U.S.,” Sutanto said, without
elaborating.

The eight suspects could face the death penalty.

Spier, a survivor of the ambush, praised Indonesia’s
efforts to find the killers but insisted American agents should
also continue to be involved.

“We discussed the importance of a transparent and credible
process for this case. President Yudhoyono clearly shares this
goal of transparency,” she told reporters.

“I believe the process should include our FBI investigators
participating in the interviews,” said Spier, referring to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, which was involved in last
week’s arrests.

Indonesia-U.S. ties were strained by the incident.

Relations have improved and the arrests came after
Washington restored military ties in November with the most
populous Muslim nation as a reward for helping the U.S.-led war
on terrorism.

One of the eight suspects is Anthonius Wamang, a separatist
indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in 2004 on two counts of
murder and several counts of attempted murder over the
killings.

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

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 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.