Balinese general to lead probe into bomb attacks

Balinese general to lead probe into bomb attacks

Reuters, Jakarta

Indonesia has put a senior police general widely respected by Western diplomats for his attempts to cool tensions in separatist Papua province in charge of the probe into last weekend's bomb attacks in Bali.

Diplomats have said I Made Mangku Pastika, himself a Balinese, earned praise for the investigation into last year's murder of a top Papuan independence leader, embarrassing the military by arresting seven special forces members over the killing.

The United States has also said it had confidence in Mangku's ability to handle the investigation into the shooting ambush of mainly American school teachers last August in the province that killed two U.S. citizens and one Indonesian.

Deputy National Police spokesman Edward Aritonang said the English-speaking Mangku would work with foreign investigators who have flown into Bali to help probe the massive bomb blasts that killed 184 people, mainly Westerners.

"He will coordinate the investigation," Aritonang said, adding MangkuPastika would report directly to the National Police chief. Indonesian police are already working with the Australian Federal Police and the FBI in Bali.

One senior diplomat recently said Mangku was doing a "brilliant job" in Papua.

In particular, Mangku has tried to prevent his forces from employing the often typical violent Indonesian response to independence demands from the general populace in Papua, one of two Indonesian separatist hotspots.

The arrests of the special forces personnel over the slaying of Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay, who was found dead in his overturned car, surprised many who had predicted the police would either hit a brick wall or not follow through on the probe.

Officials have not said if all seven special forces members would face murder charges, but they are expected to face court, something most perpetrators of past military abuses have avoided.

"We have seen from the Theys case that he can conduct a good probe," said one foreign security expert.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Bali blasts, but suspicion has fallen on Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and an Indonesian based group, Jamaah Islamiyah, which some link to al- Qaeda.