Jakarta – Departing US Ambassador Ralph Boyce said Monday he regretted that Indonesia hasn't improved its human rights record enough to allow the resumption of military relations with the US

Washington slapped a ban on the Indonesian military in 1999, after its soldiers and proxy militia killed up to 1,500 people and destroyed much of East Timor when it voted to break away from Indonesia.

The administration of US President George W. Bush wanted to normalize ties with the Indonesian military, which it sees as a key ally in the fight against terror, but Congress rejected the move.

During a briefing with foreign reporters, Boyce expressed disappointment that US-Indonesia military relations were still curtailed, saying he kept pushing Jakarta to prove that it had improved its human rights record.

"But we don't have the material with which to seriously go to Congress and do that. It's a regret on my part," said Boyce, who takes up the post of ambassador of Thailand later this month.

During his three years in Jakarta, Boyce chose low-key diplomacy over the confrontational style preferred by his predecessor Robert Gelbard. But human rights was still at the top of his agenda.

"When I arrived, a lot of Indonesians said that now that you're totally absorbed with the war on terror presumably you won't be all over us on human rights the way you have been," he recalled. "To which I said ... Are you planning on violating human rights? If you do, we'll say something."

Indonesia's military has long been accused of human rights violations throughout the country. Amnesty International recently accused soldiers of torture and extra-judicial killings in the insurgency-hit province of Aceh.

While Jakarta did hold rights trials for some of those accused in the East Timor violence, 16 of the 18 government and military officials involved were acquitted. That sparked outrage among Western governments and rights groups who labeled the rights court a failure.

Boyce also called on Indonesia to arrest Anthonius Wamang, an alleged separatist rebel accused of playing a role in the August 2002 killing of two American school teachers near an US-owned gold mine in Papua.

The failure to bring Wamang – who has been indicted by a US grand jury – to justice is another factor blocking the resumption of full military ties between the US and Indonesia, Western diplomats say.

Indonesia has no extradition agreement with the US and it is unclear whether Jakarta will hand Wamang over to Washington if he is arrested.