Uli Schmetzer, Jakarta – The investigation into the deadly ambush of a convoy of American teachers in Indonesia has become bogged down by a long list of suspects in a nation where terrorists wear many faces and violence often hides behind an official mask.

Investigators have eased initial fears that the tragedy on the eastern tip of the Indonesian archipelago was the work of anti-American terrorists. They now say the attack almost certainly was carried out by one of the many groups fighting for a larger part of the spoils left by the fall of the dictator Suharto.

The automatic-rifle fire that raked the convoy August 31 on a mountain road in the eastern province of Papua killed two American teachers, Edwin Burgon of Oregon and Ricky Spier of Colorado. Also killed was an Indonesian colleague, Bambang Riwanto. Twelve other people, mostly Americans, were wounded, five seriously.

Since then, the police and military investigation has become as foggy as the misty mountain road on which the ambush occurred. Local officials believe the Americans, who were on a school outing to the town of Tembagapura, were victims of a plot to extort more protection money from Freeport-McMoRan, a Louisiana-based mining giant that runs the school where the teachers worked. Freeport has its own security force, and the army handles security around the mining company's perimeter – for a price.

Separatist rebels, rogue soldiers, local militias and tribes have always demanded "contributions" in return for guaranteeing security for the Freeport mine, the world's largest gold, nickel and copper mining complex. It is among the top three taxpayers in Indonesia.

Military blamed separatists

The Indonesian military initially blamed the separatist Free Papua Movement for the ambush before an unidentified local man sought police protection and said he had evidence incriminating a drunken special forces platoon.

Regional police chief I Made Pastika, the lead investigator, said that he did not rule out military involvement but that there were holes in the story. The spent cartridges at the scene, for example, were of a different caliber than ammunition used in automatic rifles issued to the troops. Pastika has detained 19 local soldiers for questioning. These days he is shuttling between Jakarta and Papua to explain an investigation that could jolt US-Indonesian relations and jeopardize the resumption of military cooperation between the world's most populous Muslim nation and the Pentagon.

Like most police chiefs in Indonesia, Pastika harbors little love for the military. Since the fall of Suharto and the change to a democratic system, a newly empowered regional police force has often fought with local troops over kickbacks and security payoffs from local industries, mining companies, the control of the narcotics trade and prostitution.

While investigating the ambush site, police came under fire. That was not unusual. In northern Sumatra last week, police and soldiers fought a two-day street battle that paralyzed the town and left eight people dead after police refused to free a soldier they had arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

The Papua case has embarrassed Indonesia, which is under US pressure to crack down on Islamic militants. At a briefing, Pastika said he also suspected that militias formed by transplanted residents from other parts of Indonesia might have carried out the ambush on orders of the special forces. Poor residents from Java and Ambon were encouraged under the Suharto regime, which began in 1967 and ended with his ouster in 1998, to settle in Papua. The idea was to consolidate Indonesia's sovereignty over the western part of the island; the eastern part is the independent Papua New Guinea. The Papuan settlers created "self-defense" militias and soon became a majority in Papua. Tribespeople resented the newcomers, who were given the best jobs and the most fertile land.

Another troubled region

The killing of the Americans has cast the spotlight on a part of Indonesia that threatens to become another East Timor, where a brutal separatist war between rebels and Indonesian settlers backed by troops forced the United Nations to intervene and promote an independence referendum. Voters overwhelmingly opted for nationhood.

So far the Free Papua Movement has not killed foreigners or attacked mining interests. This summer, however, rebels sent a letter to military authorities saying they intended to attack the Freeport mining interests, said Albert Rumbekwan, the liaison officer for Papua's Institute for Human Rights. The rebels later backed off.

Pastika said he is not ruling out that rogue soldiers carried out the ambush. He also includes among his suspects Kelly Kwalik, a local separatist commander, and another rebel faction leader, Titus Murib.