No bombs in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Police stated yesterday that no explosive materials had been found at buildings recently swept by bomb squads after the buildings received threatening phone calls.

Brig. Gen. Sutiyono, head of the National Police Mobile Brigade, which also supervises the bomb squad, said the absence of explosives indicated that there were no civilians in the country who could produce a real bomb.

"Even if there were civilians who could make bombs, they are only able to create mercon (firecrackers) but not real bombs," Sutiyono said.

He, however, admitted that the bomb hoaxes had kept his personnel awake day and night.

He said the threats had sometimes even upset his personnel.

"After all, it was good and real practice for all my people so that they could practice their abilities for a real situation," the one-star general said.

So far, security authorities have arrested a man who is believed to have made a series of phone calls involving bomb threats in the capital. The identity of the man has not been released.

"So far, we consider the suspect's actions to be criminal, not political," National Police Chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo said yesterday.

He said it was possible the man would later be charged under regulations which cover political-related crime if further investigation found hard evidence of political motives behind the man's actions.

A police source identified the suspect only as M and said he was arrested in a house in West Jakarta last Saturday.

The officer, who asked for anonymity, said the man had allegedly made most of the bomb threats by telephone from Cibubur in East Jakarta.

The officer said the man's arrest was made possible by state- owned telecommunication company, PT Telkom, who informed the police of calls involving bomb hoaxes made from public telephones in Cibubur.

The officer would give no further details about the arrest.

"Sorry, it's still under investigation," he said. (cst)