'Bali bombers received foreign help'

Tiarma Siboro and I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar, Bali

The lethal explosives used in the devastating Bali bombings were made by Indonesians with the help of foreign bomb experts, Indonesia's chief investigator said on Saturday.

The bombs used in the Oct. 12 blast were assembled by Indonesians who "could not have done it without help from foreign bomb experts," police joint inquiry team leader Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika told Agence France-Presse.

"The perpetrators are Indonesians and we believe that the explosives used in the bombings were brought in from outside Bali."

Investigators have determined that a mobile phone was used to trigger a small bomb near the U.S. Consulate on Bali minutes after the deadly blasts outside packed bars in the island's popular tourist district of Kuta.

They have not ruled out the possibility that the same technology was used to detonate the Kuta bombs that killed at least 190 people, mostly foreigners, and injured hundreds.

"The technology using mobile phones as a remote control is new for Indonesia and this is something that requires guidance from foreign experts," Pastika said.

A team of international investigators is using witness accounts to piece together sketches of three Indonesian men believed to have planted the bombs.

However, the joint inquiry team's spokesman, Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said the sketches would not be released to the public until police were certain the three carried out the terror attack.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, although foreign governments have accused Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and its regional ally, the Jamaah Islamiyah.

Aritonang also said on Saturday that investigators had extended their search to several places outside the Kuta crime scene.

The places are believed to be connected to the activities of the suspects prior to and after the deadly explosions.

Aritonang refused to disclose the precise locations, stressing that disclosing the details would jeopardize the investigation.

He only said that all the places were in the vicinity of the island's capital of Denpasar.

"I cannot tell you any name (of the places), but I can give you n explanation. The places are being investigated based on information provided by witnesses or because the places are connected to the suspected people or to certain things found at the crime scene," he said.

"The investigators are trying to establish whether the suspected people visited the places prior to the explosions, in which case they might have used the places to assemble the bombs or to discuss the bomb plan, or they went there after the explosion," he added.

In response to a question by a reporter asking whether one of the investigated places was an unlicensed car rental in southern Kuta, Aritonang only said that it was likely.

A local source disclosed that the police had detained three owners of a car rental after the investigators found residue of explosive material in one of their hire cars. The police released two of them after four days of questioning.

Concerning 10 Pakistanis who had been summoned for questioning, Aritonang stated that all of them were still under investigation.

"Up to now the investigation into them is still ongoing. So far, we have not found any connection between the Pakistanis and the sketches of the suspects," he said.

Aritonang also said that as of Saturday afternoon the medical forensic team had positively identified 10 bodies from the blast. To date, only 77 bodies have been identified.