Megawati, Downer applaud police

Megawati, Downer applaud police

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Words of appreciation and praise were showered on the joint team
investigating the Bali bombing after the arrest of Imam Samudra,
a key suspect in the deadly Bali bombing, but some have cast
doubt on the swift progress the team has made thus far.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri joined Australian Prime
Minister John Howard in paying tribute to the work of the
investigative team on Friday.

"This thorough investigation must proceed in a professional
way and without resorting to unlawful means," Megawati said as
quoted by National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.

Da'i was attending a breaking of the fast gathering with
Cabinet ministers and House of Representatives' leaders hosted by
the President at the state palace on Friday.

Vice President Hamzah Haz, who once was zealous in his defense
of Muslim hard-line groups in the country, expressed the hope
that the arrest of Samudra would uncover once and for all whether
a terrorist network was present in Indonesia, a network that
could be linked to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

The police on Thursday arrested Samudra at Merak port, Banten
province, some 90 kilometers west of Jakarta, as he tried to slip
into Sumatra.

Samudra has long been hunted by both the Indonesian and
Malaysian police forces as he, along with a number of Muslim
clerics in these countries, including Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the
leader of the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI), was allegedly
involved in various bombing outrages.

Hamzah left the final say to the court on "whether or not he
(Imam) is found guilty."

In Australia, foreign minister Alexander Downer praised the
close cooperation between the Indonesian and Australian police
forces since the joint team was set up in October.

"We're delighted with the progress that the Indonesian Police
have been making and the cooperation between the Indonesian and
the Australian Police in Indonesia in following up the Bali
bombing," he said as quoted by Antara.

Amien Rais, speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, was
among those expressing doubts about the progress of the
investigation.

Amien, also the National Mandate Party chairman, questioned
how the police could so easily solve the Bali bombing case
whereas they found it "difficult to investigate the other bombing
cases that rocked the country in recent years."

"I am 80 percent convinced that Imam Samudra masterminded the
Bali bombing. But how are the police able to solve this case so
easily now while they failed to investigate earlier bombing cases
in Poso (Central Sulawesi), Jakarta and Medan (North Sumatra)?"
Amien said as quoted by Antara.

He further requested that the police be transparent in their
probe into the bombing for the sake of the public's right to
know.

Sharing Amien's view was Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of the
country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), who
suspected that the police, as well as the country's intelligence
agencies, were trying to hide something in the investigation
process based upon an agenda orchestrated by "foreign
intelligence."

"Many believe that some explosive materials, such as RDX, can
only be produced in a certain foreign country. If the police can
reveal the various local bomb-making materials that were used to
blast Kuta, Bali, recently, why should they be hesitant to
uncover the story about these imported materials?" Hasyim asked.