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Four more sought over shooting of Americans: Jakarta

Posted on: Monday, 16 January 2006, 05:52 CST

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.

Source: REUTERS

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