Singapore – The United States said on Friday it had warned Indonesia "at the highest levels" that a failure by Jakarta to cooperate in solving the murder of two American teachers would seriously affect bilateral ties.

Speaking with Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil at his side, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz also pressed Jakarta to ensure transparency in its military offensive in Aceh province and said independent monitoring should be allowed.

The unusually blunt message was expected to carry particular weight because it was delivered in public by Wolfowitz, a former US ambassador to Indonesia who maintains close ties to the country. The news conference followed talks between Matori and Wolfowitz on the sidelines of a security conference in Singapore.

The fiscal 2004 US budget includes $400,000 for the International Military Education and Training programme to bring Indonesian military officers to the United States. But the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently voted to place conditions on both IMET and a programme for financing foreign purchases of US military goods.

The committee wanted President George W. Bush's assurance that Indonesia's armed forces were taking "effective measures" to probe the August 31, 2002, attack on the two US citizens and to prosecute those responsible. Wolfowitz said the killing of the two teachers in an ambush last August at a US-run mine in far eastern Papua province was an important issue.

'Need satisfactory cooperation'

"We made it clear at the highest levels in Indonesia we need satisfactory cooperation with Indonesia or it will affect the whole relationship," he said.

FBI agents joined an Indonesian team earlier this year to investigate but no one has been charged over the killings and no details of the FBI's findings have been made public.

The Pentagon has been eager to resume IMET cooperation with Indonesia's military, which has joined the US war on terror. Wolfowitz voiced reluctance to use the programme to put pressure on Indonesia in this instance.

He and other top Pentagon officials believe IMET, by exposing Indonesian officers to the US system, is an effective way to promote military reform.

Wolfowitz also called for a political solution to the struggle by rebels in Aceh for independence for the oil and gas-rich province, a demand rejected by Jakarta.

The Indonesian defence minister told reporters the campaign in Aceh would be short, "not more than six months". "We understand that too long a measure is not good for our government," he said.