[nasional_list] [ppiindia] FBI Said Involved in Arrest of 8 Indonesians
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 11:11:05 +0100
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**http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301822.html
FBI Said Involved in Arrest of 8 Indonesians
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Foreign Service
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 13 -- Eleven men and a teenager met with two FBI
agents at a small hotel in the remote Indonesian province of Papua on Wednesday
night, expecting, they said, to be flown to the United States.
They said they had been assured by intermediaries working with the agents that
in U.S. custody they would be able to defend themselves against accusations
that they murdered two American teachers on a mountain in Papua one warm August
morning in 2002.
Among them was a Papuan separatist fighter, Anthonius Wamang, indicted in 2004
by a U.S. grand jury for murder in connection with the killings. Wamang has
acknowledged firing at the vehicle in which the teachers were riding on Aug.
31, 2002, but has said he thought he was shooting at Indonesian soldiers and is
not sure whether the shots he fired were fatal, according to his attorney,
Albert Rumbekwan.
On Wednesday night, Wamang and the others were ready to leave for the United
States, suitcases packed.
"Hurry, hurry," the FBI agents told them, several recounted, as they were
hustled into a windowless container truck. "The plane is waiting on the runway."
After coaxing the group into the truck, the agents and a U.S. Embassy official
handed the vehicle over to Indonesian police officers and left for the airport
in the small town of Timika, according to an intermediary who was present. The
Indonesian police took the 12 to the local police station, where authorities
interrogated them until morning.
Eight of them, including the teenager, were still in custody on Friday. Police
said the government intended to charge them with the murder of Ricky Lynn
Spier, 44, and Edwin Burgon, 71, who was the principal of a school run by
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. The U.S.-based company operates one of the
world's largest gold and copper mines in Papua.
U.S. officials here declined to confirm details of the arrest but acknowledged
that the FBI and Indonesian authorities had been cooperating in the case.
In Washington, FBI spokesman Bill Carter said agents were in Papua at the time
of the arrests but that he had no information on the assertion that they had
lured the suspects with promises of a trip to the United States.
"Our understanding in this is that Indonesian authorities were planning to
prosecute individuals in this case," Carter said. "We obviously reserve the
right to seek extradition in the future."
The alleged bait-and-switch tactic angered human rights activists and the four
men, part of the original group of 12, who were released in a province where
deep-seated grievances against the central government have fueled a separatist
movement. The activists charge that the Jakarta government cannot be trusted to
protect the detainees.
"We were planning to end our problems from the 2002 incident in America," said
one of those released, Victus Wamang, 57, the brother of the man indicted in
the United States. "But right now, I'm feeling really, really sorry that I
trusted these Americans. I thought that they would not deceive the Papuans.
Right now, I've lost all trust in the Americans."
The case had complicated relations between the two countries. At times, U.S.
investigators were hampered by a lack of cooperation. Early on, agents were
tailed by special police. But now, both sides hail the arrests as evidence of
good cooperation.
An initial police report implicated the military in the killings, and U.S.
officials at the time said the evidence indicated possible military
involvement. But today, both Indonesian and U.S. officials have said that
Anthonius Wamang and other members of the Free Papua Movement are guilty.
Two Papuans, Eltimus Omaleng and Willy Mandowen, who were friends with the
detainees, helped the FBI negotiate with Wamang and the others. The FBI pledged
that the detainees would be transferred to the United States for trial, Omaleng
said.
FBI agents told him "to make this promise to the people," Omaleng said. "This
problem would be solved by U.S. law."
Mandowen and Omaleng arranged for the surrender to take place at the Amole II
hotel in Timika.
"Now, after I helped them, they betrayed us," Omaleng said. "And my friends
thought that I am the one who sold them out to the FBI."
Anton Bahrul Alam, a spokesman for the national police, said, "That's their
right to feel deceived. But one thing I know for sure is we have been targeting
them for a long time."
Wamang, who the U.S. indictment describes as a separatist rebel commander,
acknowledged in a 2004 Australian television documentary that he fired his
weapon at the scene. But according to Rumbekwan, Wamang said he believed he was
shooting at Indonesian soldiers on a mountain road on Freeport property heavily
patrolled by the military. Wamang said he witnessed "retaliation fire" from
another group on the ground that he said were Indonesian soldiers.
Under interrogation, Wamang told Indonesian police in a sworn affidavit that he
acquired six magazine clips with 180 bullets from security forces, Rumbekwan
said. The bullet casings were found on the ground at the ambush scene,
Rumbekwan acknowledged.
Human rights activists and others analyzing the case charge that the truth will
be harder to determine in the Indonesian court system, where witness
intimidation is common and the military wields influence.
S. Eben Kirksey, a U.S. specialist on Papua and a PhD student at the University
of California at Santa Cruz, said his research, including interviews with
witnesses and participants, indicated that Wamang was set up by Indonesian
security forces.
"He was there several days prior to the attack, camped out, waiting for
information about reported movements of Indonesian troops," Kirksey said.
"Specifically, he indicated to people in conversations prior to going up to the
site that he didn't intend to shoot white people, that he was planning to wage
war with the Indonesian military."
The detainees were to be moved to Jakarta on Saturday, police said.
In November, the Bush administration, citing national security interests,
lifted restrictions on military financing to Indonesia, continuing a process of
restoring full military ties. U.S. aid will continue to be guided by progress
on human rights, democratic reform and accountability, a State Department
spokesman said this month.
Staff writers Dan Eggen and Dana Priest in Washington and special correspondent
Andy Saputra in Jakarta contributed to this report
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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