Police question two suspects over blast<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police are questioning two people, at least one is Indonesian,
\nsuspected of links to the blasts in Bali's Kuta area last
\nSaturday as investigators from Australia and other countries
\narrived to conduct investigations on the bombings that claimed
\n181 lives.<\/p>\n
\"We questioned them intensively to find out why they were
\nthere (in Kuta) and what they were doing,\" National Police Chief
\nGen. Da'i Bachtiar said of the suspects on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He added that one of the two suspects was at the blast scene
\nand the other was a relative of a person whose ID card was found
\nat the blast scene.<\/p>\n
The relative of the ID card owner, from West Nusa Tenggara
\nprovince, refused to talk to the police, said Da'i.<\/p>\n
Da'i refused to reveal the identities of the two men.<\/p>\n
Last Saturday's blast killed 181 people, wounded 328 others.
\nIt also completely destroyed six buildings, seriously damaged 11
\nothers, destroyed 20 cars and six motorcycles.<\/p>\n
Da'is also said the Indonesian Police was receiving assistance
\nfrom the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the United
\nStates, Australia, Britain and Germany.<\/p>\n
He stressed that despite the assistance, the authority of the
\ninvestigation remained with the Indonesian Police.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on
\nTuesday Australia had deployed 17 intelligence officers and would
\nsend another 23 to Bali to help with the investigation. They
\nwould stay in Bali for an indefinite time, said Downer.<\/p>\n
Downer said the intelligence officers were members of the
\nAustralian Federal Police (AFP). The Indonesian Ministry of
\nForeign Affairs however said some of the officers were members of
\nanother Australian intelligence agency.<\/p>\n
Besides the two main suspects, Bali police have also
\nquestioned some 50 people in connection with the blast, including
\n10 Pakistanis. Bali Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Y. Suyatmo
\ndenied the questioning of the Pakistanis was connected to the
\ninvestigation on the blasts.<\/p>\n
During their stay, the Pakistanis held discussions and gave
\nlectures on social and religious matters in various places on the
\nisland. However, the Pakistanis never informed the police of
\ntheir activities, said Suyatmo.<\/p>\n
According to the regulation, activities that involve a group
\nof people must be reported to the police or held with permission
\nfrom related authorities.<\/p>\n
Da'i said that the police would also follow up on Minister of
\nDefense Matori Abdul Djalil's allegation of al-Qaeda's
\ninvolvement in the blast.<\/p>\n
\"But there is no proof yet to support the suspicion,\" said
\nDa'i.<\/p>\n
Bali Police chief Brig. Gen. Budi Setyawan said so far there
\nhad been no indications of al-Qaeda's involvement in the blasts.<\/p>\n
\"... but it is not impossible that this involved an
\ninternational network,\" Budi said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil said the government
\nwelcomed intelligence assistance from Australia and the U.S. to
\nhelp solve the Bali bombing.<\/p>\n
\"It's positive because intelligence cooperation is a common
\nthing within the international community, so we must look at it
\nfrom a positive point of view,\" he said while witnessing a the
\nArmy's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) exercise in Sukabumi,
\nWest Java.<\/p>\n
Matori insisted that the blast was the work of al-Qaeda
\noperatives in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He lamented the fact the majority of the Indonesian public had
\nbeen duped by anti-American groups who had convinced them that
\nevery bit of information coming from the U.S. was always either a
\ntype of social engineering or slander.<\/p>\n
He dismissed allegations of a lack of coordination among
\nIndonesia's intelligence bodies, but said terrorist threats were
\nnew to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He stressed that Indonesian and international intelligence
\nagencies had uncovered the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"But we need to prove that they have violated some law before
\nwe can act,\" he stressed.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais meanwhile
\nurged the government to form an international team to solve the
\nexplosions in Bali and Manado, North Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
\"The government needs to form an international team because we
\nhave been unable to uncover the masterminds of the tragedy,\"
\nAmien said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Soetardjo
\nSoerjogoeritno warned that foreign involvement in the
\ninvestigation of the Bali bombing must be done under the
\ncoordination of the Indonesian police.<\/p>\n
\"I hope foreign involvement remains under police coordination
\nto maintain the authority of the Indonesian government,\" said
\nSoetardjo.<\/p>\n
He speculated that the masterminds of the Bali bombing were
\nforeigners who cooperated with locals.<\/p>\n
\"The mastermind is definitely a foreign group. There are
\npeople who want to see the government collapse,\" he added.
\nHowever, Soetardjo refused the allegation that the bombing was
\ndone by Muslims.<\/p>\n
\"As a Muslim, I object to any effort to link any terrorism
\nwith Islam and I urge all Muslims not to be offended (by the
\naccusation) which is baseless.\"<\/p>",
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