Indonesia has agreed to let agents from the US Federal Bureay of Investigation (FBI) join an investigation into an ambush that killed two Americans and an Indonesian in Papua province.
Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying that the agents would take part in an inquiry team led by Indonesian police.
President George W. Bush has called for a Bali-style joint investigation into the incident in a recent message to President Megawati Sukarnoputri, according to the Australian newspaper The Age.
"The establishment of a joint investigative team involving the Indonesian police and FBI officers is possible but we must first draw up a framework for collaboration to avoid any excesses, such as the taking over of our police functions there," Yudhoyono said.
The minister did not say how many FBI agents would be allowed to take part. Police in Papua have said Indonesian troops are suspected of being behind the ambush.
The solving of the Freeport case is seen as crucial before any US move to establish closer ties with the Indonesian military as part of the war on terror.
Indonesian police have received widespread praise for their investigation, conducted with the Australian Federal Police and other overseas forces, into the October 12 Bali bombing that killed at least 190 people.
Gunmen ambushed buses carrying personnel from an international school near the giant US-owned Freeport copper and gold mine in Papua in August. They killed three people, two of them Americans, and injured about a dozen others.
FBI officers have at least twice already travelled to Papua to monitor the progress of the Indonesian investigation.
Police cannot investigate military officers but said they informed a military investigation team of the suspected involvement of members of the Kopassus special army forces. The special forces have denied any role in the murders.
Army officials have previously blamed the ambush on Kelly Kwalik, a separatist guerrilla leader who has denied links to the attack.
Nine Kopassus soldiers are awaiting trial in a military court for their role in the murder of Papuan separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay in November last year.
Freeport's mine is considered a vital national asset and is heavily guarded by government forces.