Adam Gartrell – The Balibo Five case is closed and should remain closed, the Indonesian Government says.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) today announced it had begun a formal war crimes investigation into the deaths of the five Australia-based newsmen, who were killed in the East Timor border town of Balibo in October 1975.

The AFP probe comes almost two years after a coronial inquest concluded Indonesian forces deliberately killed the journalists to cover up their invasion of East Timor.

The inquest dismissed claims by successive Australian and Indonesian governments that Australians Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart, Britons Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie and New Zealander Gary Cunningham were accidentally killed in crossfire.

But it's a line the Indonesian Government is still sticking to. Foreign Affairs Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the case should not be resurrected.

"In our view, this case is closed and should stay closed," he said. "We will not reopen this case. And we want an explanation from the Australian Government. What is meant by this investigation? What is the purpose of investigation? How will it be conducted?"

Theo Sambuaga, an influential Indonesian MP who heads up a parliamentary commission that oversees security and foreign issues, said the AFP investigation would be "a waste of time".

"What Australian police do by reopening this case is worsen the relationship between Indonesia and Australia, both its people and governments," he said. "It's hurtful because Indonesian people will think Australia is looking for something that does not exist."

Deputy NSW Coroner Dorelle Pinch linked several former senior military personnel to the deaths. Two – former army captain turned politician Yunus Yosfiah and soldier Christoforus da Silva – are still alive.

Sambuaga said Indonesia was unlikely to cooperate with the AFP probe. "It depends on what's being requested," he said. "But if they want us to hand over our people, to agree to any extraditions, certainly not."