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.