Six countries officially join Bali investigation<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali<\/p>\n
Indonesia on Friday signed an agreement with six countries to
\nset up a a joint investigation into last week's bombing in Bali
\nas joint team members cautioned that the probe might take a long
\ntime to complete.<\/p>\n
Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, Indonesia's chief
\ninvestigator on the case, vowed to intensify the probe with the
\ninternational help, stressing that last Saturday's terrorist
\nstrike was not only an attack on Bali but on international
\ncivilization as well.<\/p>\n
\"This task (to investigate the bombing in Bali) is a challenge
\nfor me because the bomb explosion here is not just an attack on
\nBali or Indonesia, but also an attack on the world's civilization
\nand humanity,\" Mangku said at a joint press briefing with
\nAssistant Commissioner Graham Ashton from the Australian Federal
\nPolice (AFP) at the Hard Rock hotel here.<\/p>\n
Mangku said he signed the pact with representatives of police
\nforces from Australia, Britain, the United States, Germany, New
\nZealand and Japan to jointly investigate the case.<\/p>\n
\"This morning we signed a cooperation agreement on the joint
\ninvestigations into the Bali blast in which the Indonesian police
\nwill be assisted by international police forces,\" he said<\/p>\n
\"The signing of the agreement showed the Indonesian
\ngovernment's appreciation of the case and we will give our
\nassistance to the country ... that includes to involve our
\nforensic expertise,\" Ashton added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the task force's senior officers said they were in
\nthe process of obtaining forensic samples it believed to be
\n\"significant\".<\/p>\n
They have also \"formed a view\" about a single group that may
\nhave been responsible for the weekend explosions which left more
\nthan 180 people dead and hundreds injured.<\/p>\n
\"We are getting significant information in and we do have a
\nview but at this time we are not prepared to say what that view
\nis,\" Ashton said as quoted by AFP.<\/p>\n
But he admitted that catching the terrorists would be a long
\nand exhaustive process and was not prepared to forecast when
\npolice might achieve a breakthrough.<\/p>\n
Under the investigation agreement, Indonesian security
\nofficers will cooperate with the foreigners for a period of three
\nyears, if the investigation is completely closed by that time.<\/p>\n
Almost 100 international officers -- 49 Australian Federal
\nPolice, 24 from Australian state forces and 21 experts from
\nBritain, New Zealand, the United States, Germany, Japan and
\nSweden -- have been assigned to the operation.<\/p>\n
The joint investigation team is divided into two groups that
\nwill focus on providing technical assistance to the Indonesian
\nPolice to carry out forensic examinations at the crime site, both
\nfor medical and investigation purposes.<\/p>\n
The Australian contingent has been in the country since Sunday
\nhelping to identify victims, most of whom were Australian.<\/p>\n
According to Mangku, the Indonesian team consisted of officers
\nfrom the National Police Headquarters, Bali Police and East Java
\nPolice.<\/p>\n
The team has so far interviewed several key witnesses,
\nincluding a former Indonesian Air Force officer due to his
\nexpertise in the type of explosives used. However, the team has
\nnot yet declared any suspects. The 57 Indonesian witnesses are
\nnot in jail, but placed at \"certain places to ensure a smooth
\ninvestigation process\".<\/p>\n
Contrary to previous reports, none of the witnesses were
\nforeigners, the officers asserted.<\/p>\n
Mangku said the team had also conducted investigations in
\nseveral regions of the country but refused to disclose which.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a military source said security officers were
\ncurrently monitoring Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara province and
\nSibolga in North Sumatra province because \"some members of the
\ncountry's radical groups, including Laskar Jihad, are currently
\nholed up in those places.\"<\/p>\n
The involvement of foreign officers in the investigation has
\ncreated a division among the Indonesian security authorities,
\nwith some rejecting the involvement of foreigners in the
\ninvestigation process.<\/p>\n
\"If these foreign investigators insist on helping us
\n(Indonesia's intelligence), they can only help us in (providing)
\ntechnology and expertise, but they must not carry out direct
\nintelligence operations,\" a top-level intelligence source told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Confusion is also rife among Indonesian security officers as
\nto the involvement of United Nations investigators on the team.
\nEarlier on Wednesday National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh
\nSaaf said that UN officers were joining the joint investigation.
\nHowever, Saleh's statement was immediately denied by Brig. Gen
\nEdward Aritonang, spokesman for the investigation team.<\/p>\n
\"No, they (the UN officers) are not included in the MoU. There
\nare several countries involved, but not the UN,\" Edward told the
\nPost here Friday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile an intelligence source speculated that the UN
\nofficers were just assisting the forensic team, considering that
\n\"the UN has a big concern to create peace in the world, as well
\nas to help fund the investigation.\"<\/p>\n
The source also said that unlike the UN peacekeeping forces
\nwhich usually perform a coordination role among foreign security
\nofficers, the UN officers in Bali were not, as yet, leading the
\nteam.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/six-countries-officially-join-bali-investigation-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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