FBI arrives in Jakarta to aid probe into Papua killings

U.S. FBI agents have arrived in Jakarta to help a stalled investigation into the fatal shooting of two U.S. teachers in the country's remote Papua province last year, a U.S. embassy spokesman said Thursday as reported by The Associated Press.

Spokesman Stanley Harsha refused to comment on the FBI's role or how long the team of at least three agents would be in Indonesia.

"A small FBI team is in Indonesia at the invitation of Indonesia government to work with Indonesian police in the investigation of the murders of two Americans at Tamika last August," Harsha told The Associated Press.

Two U.S. schoolteachers, along with an Indonesian colleague, were killed Aug. 31 when unidentified gunmen ambushed their convoy near the American-owned Grasberg gold and copper mine near Timika, about 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles) east of Jakarta.

No one has been arrested in the shootings, but police said they have evidence that the military was responsible.

The military has denied any involvement, but rights groups have alleged it committed the murders to discredit a small separatist movement in Papua. Some rights groups claim security forces were behind the murders to pressure the mine's owners, PT Freeport Indonesia, to give more money to the thousands of soldiers that guard the facility.

PT Freeport Indonesia is the Indonesian arm of American company Freeport McMoRan Copper-and-Gold Inc.

The investigation has been bogged down as police complain that they have no authority to question military witnesses.

The probe has become a headache for U.S. officials, who are trying to convince Congress to approve millions of dollars for Indonesia's military, and eventually normalize ties with the Indonesian military.

U.S. officials have pressed the Indonesian military to thoroughly investigate the killings and acknowledge any involvement by their officers. (*)