Washington banned military ties with Indonesia in 1999 after Indonesian troops devastated the province of East Timor following a U.N.-organized independence referendum.
But the Bush administration now wants to resume full ties with Indonesia's military, which it views as a bulwark against Islamic militancy in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
In February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lifted restrictions on Jakarta's participation in the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick described the $600,000 program as "very limited."
"For us to do more, we need more progress in terms of that investigation," he said.
Zoellick said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top officials had agreed to cooperate fully in the investigation of the ambush in which eight other Americans - including a 6-year-old child - were injured.
"I do see progress but I won't be satisfied until the culprits are brought to justice," Zoellick told reporters. "The sense I got is that the government understands the importance of this."
Local police in the eastern province of West Papua, where the victims worked at a school attached to an American-owned gold and copper mine, initially blamed the Aug. 31, 2002, ambush on an army special forces unit. The attack was seen as an effort by the military to discredit a pro-independence movement in the province.
A subsequent FBI probe led to the indictment by a U.S. grand jury of an Indonesian civilian, Anthonius Wamang. He was described as a pro-independence guerrilla, but separatist activists maintain he was a military informer. He has never been captured.
Zoellick also met with Planning Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to discuss America's role in rebuilding Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province, including plans to finance a $245 million road project, embassy officials said.
He witnessed the signing of an agreement for the United States to contribute $73 million in aid to Indonesia, including cash to establish an anti-corruption court aimed at stemming the country's endemic graft.
May 7, 2005 12:18 PM