Mega declares RI on full alert
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Police claimed on Monday to have come a step closer to locating the perpetrators of Thursday's bombing outside the Australian Embassy here, while President Megawati Soekarnoputri declared the country fully alert to further acts of violence.
After chairing a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Megawati said she had ordered the police and military to increase their vigilance in the coming weeks, which will also see the nation holding its presidential election runoff on Sept. 20.
"I have instructed all security forces to remain in a state of readiness across the country, especially around the capital ahead of the runoff," Megawati, who is the military's supreme commander, said.
Monday was a national holiday.
Despite the recent bombing, she hoped the coming election would run as peacefully as previous polls.
"I wish to see the increased surveillance of all vital and strategic installations, embassies, as well as public places, across the country," the President said.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said he had put 200,000 officers on guard across the country. Over 200,000 military troops will serve as a backup for the police.
Megawati also called on the people to work closely with security authorities by maintaining their vigilance of suspicious people around their neighborhoods.
Earlier in the day, National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said investigators were now trying to locate the last owner of the box van used in the Sept. 9 suicide bomb attack, in which 9 people were killed and over 185 others injured. Police were also matching the DNA of body parts found at the blast site with that of family members of terror suspects.
"Based on our questioning of the previous owner of the car, we are now tracing people who are suspected of plotting the suicide bombing. We hope we can locate them soon," said Suyitno, who leads the probe into last week's bombing.
Police had questioned a man identified as ES -- who claimed to have sold the Daihatsu van to a man in March -- as a witness. It is hoped that ES will lead the police to the people responsible for the blast.
Suyitno said the investigation revealed that the car was made in 1990 and police had identified its chassis number.
"If the police could capture the last owner of the car then we could also get the other members of the terror group," he said.
Police forensics laboratory chief Brig. Gen. Dudon Satyaputra said the police would complete matching the DNA of body parts found at the blast site with the family members of terrorist suspects within a week.
Suyitno said the police believed the body parts, now located at the police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, belonged to the two people who allegedly committed the suicide bombing.
"According to the suspects we have detained, the body parts belonged to two of the three most recent Jamaah Islamiyah recruits. We have identified their family members so we can verify our findings," Suyitno added.
The police arrested in Sukoharjo, Surakarta, Central Jakarta, in April, five of eight people suspected of planning and preparing the Bali bombings in 2002 and the JW Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta in 2003.
A high-ranking police officer, however, told The Jakarta Post that at least 10 new suicide bombers -- recruited by two Malaysian fugitive bomb experts Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh. Top -- remained at large.
Both Azahari and Noordin are believed to have masterminded the Bali and Marriott bombings, in which a total of 214 people were killed.
The authorities have warned that the Malaysians are armed with explosives and planning fresh attacks ahead of the 20 Sept. runoff.
Suyitno said police had also found that a rented house on Jl. Raya Enam, RT 004/RW 09, in West Cengkareng, West Jakarta was the place where the two Malaysian bomb experts assembled the explosives.
"We found traces of TNT and sulfur in the rented house. The materials are similar to substances used in the (Thursday's) blast," he said.
Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a flammable toxic compound used as a high explosive made by a reaction of toluene and nitric acid in the presence of sulfuric acid. Explosives used in the Bali bombings contained 1.5 kilogram of TNT, as well as RDX (Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine).
Australian Federal Police have said the bomb that exploded last week contained 200 kilograms of potassium chlorate, a material to make TNT. However, the National Police would not confirm that statement.
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