Washington
31 Mar 2004, 22:06 UTC

In testimony to Congress, U.S. military officials have reaffirmed their commitment to working with Indonesia in the fight against terror. But they also say there must be a resolution of the controversial question of suspected Indonesian military involvement in the killing of two American citizens in 2002.

The still incomplete investigation into the deaths of two Americans and an Indonesian, and the wounding of 11 other people in Indonesia's West Papua province has been a problem in bilateral relations since the incident in 2002.

An FBI report has implicated members of Indonesia's military in the killings, which took place on a portion of an Indonesian
military-controlled road to a mine owned by a U.S. company.

The issue is important because U.S. military education training funds, known as IMET, have been in suspension with Congress pressing for a resolution of the killings before reauthorizing the education funds for Indonesia.

In Wednesday's hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Admiral Thomas Fargo, who heads the U.S. Pacific Command, said he supports the requirement for "full accountability" for the incident.

"I have talked directly to [Army Chief of Staff] General Sutarto and he has assured me that if this investigation shows that there are members of the TNI [Indonesian military] that took part in this attack, that he is going to hold them completely accountable and there will be the kind of discipline that we would expect would be very proper in this particular situation," he said.

Congressman Joel Hefley is a Republican from Colorado who introduced an amendment last year effectively suspending IMET funds for Indonesia. "Well I hope you will hold him accountable for that offer of cooperation because this is something that we can't allow to go unpunished it seems to me," he said.

Indonesian cooperation in the fight against terror was also a focus of the hearing Wednesday of the House Armed Services Committee.

Calling Southeast Asia a "crucial front" in that battle, Admiral Fargo recalled the 2002 terrorist bombing in Bali as well as one in Jakarta in 2003. Indonesia, he said, is critical to stability in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region in general.

However, he had to respond to other lawmaker's questions about continuing reports of human rights violations involving Indonesia's military. Admiral Fargo said while Indonesia's military needs to be held accountable, there are signs of improvement.

"In the last year, legislation has been passed that takes the TNI [military] out of the political scene in Indonesia, and after this election
that is coming up in April they won't have any seats in the assembly," he said. "The chief of defense of the TNI, in fact, is not going to allow the TNI to vote in this election, not because he wants to set a precedent but because he wants to make sure that they steer clear of politics in this upcoming election."

Admiral Fargo points to what he calls "signs" that the Indonesian army has undertaken significant human rights training, particularly in relation to the situation in Aceh. And he adds.

"Our role, I think, is to serve as a model for the TNI, to make sure that we help bring them along on this path to reform, so they understand the rule of law, the proper role of a military in a democracy, and that they can develop as an institution in a manner that will properly serve their people," he said.

U.S. military education training funds for Indonesia has been limited in the past to about $400,000 a year. U.S. officials and the Bush
administration say education for members of the Indonesian military in rule of law and democracy-building, can also help cooperation in the war on terror.