National Military Police say army members not involved in Timika ambush

National Military Police on Wednesday denied allegations that army members had been involved in last year?s ambush in Timika, Papua which claimed the lives of two American teachers and one Indonesian.

?So far, any involvement of Armed Forces members in the Timika incident has not been detected,? said National Military Police deputy commander Brigadier General Hendardji as reported by Tempo Interaktif.

Hendardji had been assigned to Papua on Dec. 23 to conduct a thorough investigation into the Timika attack.

The incident took place on August 31, 2002 in Timika. The two American teachers were employees of Freeport Indonesia, which operates copper and gold mines in Mimika, Papua.

The police had earlier disclosed that they had found evidence linking the army to the fatal ambush.

Hendardji said Wednesday around 100 witnesses had been examined including foreigners. One of them, Decky Murib, had testified that army members had been involved in the incident, but army and police investigators had found his testimony lacking evidence, Hendardji told reporters after a meeting at the National Police Headquarters.

He added no member of Federal Bureau of Investigation from the United States had come to join Indonesian investigators to examine the Timika case. The US government had been reported to plan dispatching FBI members to Indonesia.

Coordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said aside from army members, followers of Free Papua Movement (OPM) and others should also be suspected to have carried out the fatal shootings. (*)