FBI clears Indonesian army of role in Papua murders: report
Tuesday, December 23 2003 - 07:53 PM WIB
Indonesia's Koran Tempo newspaper quotes the military police chief, Major General AB Sulaiman, as saying a visiting FBI team told him of its conclusions in a meeting last week.
Sulaiman says the conclusions were based on ballistic tests on bullet casings found at the scene.
Unidentified gunmen opened fire in August 2002 on a convoy carrying employees of the US-owned Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. mine in Timika district.
Two American teachers and an Indonesian colleague were killed and 12 other people, most of them Americans, were wounded.
The US embassy has declined to comment on the result of investigations.
FBI agents made their first visit to Papua in January, but expressed concern they were not given full access to witnesses or evidence. (*)