No saving Private Manning

Private Leonard Manning's comrades tried but were unable to recover him immediately after he was shot by East Timorese militia in July, an Army Court of Inquiry has found.

Private Manning, aged 24, was killed while tracking a militia group near the border with West Timor on July 24. He was the first New Zealand soldier to die in combat in nearly 30 years.

The report, made public yesterday after Private Manning's battalion returned to New Zealand, says there was no opportunity for the outnumbered patrol to recover his body, because of the dominating position of the threat group and the lack of cover.

"One of the patrol members attempted to make contact with Private Manning, but because of the way he was lying and his lack of response, it was strongly believed he was dead."

The soldier was able to rejoin the group, which had withdrawn after the initial militia volley. The six-man patrol had been tracking the group of what is now believed to be nine armed militia since the previous afternoon.

It had seen the group the night before but the commanding officer was reluctant to follow at that stage, uncertain of its size.

The soldiers set up an observation post, and during the night heard voices less than 100m away. A trip wire was also set off, the report says.

The next morning the patrol came into contact with the group, which "held the upper hand tactically in that they occupied dominant ground."

A militia sentry fired at the soldiers. "The initial rounds were directed at Private Manning, who was fatally hit by one of these shots."

His body was recovered five hours later, with weapons and other kit missing. His throat had been cut and his ears removed after he died, the report confirmed.

It says the patrol members believed the militia sentry had opened fire because he felt threatened by the proximity of the soldiers.

The Army inquiry has found that nothing could have been done to prevent Private Manning's death.

The Army has refused to make public complete details of the inquiry, which took most of August to complete, but yesterday's summary says medics who examined Private Manning's body in the bush and a New Zealand pathologist confirmed he had died instantly.

Private Manning's father, Charlie Manning, declined to comment.

The summary of the report does not mention that the patrol's Steyr rifles jamming during the firefight, as a group of soldiers in East Timor claimed last month in an anonymous e-mail.

But Defence Minister Mark Burton said the claim was unfounded and the rifles did not jam.

Meanwhile, forensic investigators are looking for the remains of five Western journalists, including a New Zealander, murdered in East Timor 25 years ago during Indonesia's occupation.

Darwin police investigator Kym Chilton is leading a team of four in the painstaking task of looking for proof that the five men died in the border town of Balibo while trying to cover the Indonesian attack on October 16, 1975.

The five who died were reporter Greg Shackleton, 27, and soundman Tony Stewart, 21, both of Australia; British reporter Malcolm Rennie, 28, and British cameraman Brian Peters, 29; and New Zealand cameraman Gary Cunningham, who was with Australia's Channel 7.

- NZPA

Herald Online feature: Timor mission

UN Transitional Administration in E Timor