Police complete probe at blast site but no arrests are made

The Jakarta Post Kuta/Jakarta

A multinational team investigating the site of the Bali terrorist attacks concluded its probe on Friday, but members of the team are still struggling to find the perpetrators of the blast that killed 190 and injured over 300 others.

A brief memorial service attended by several foreign diplomats, including British and U.S. ambassadors, marked the completion and was presided over by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) chaplain Patrick Woods.

The memorial was held in the area in front of the Sari Club, a popular nightspot devastated by the powerful explosion, and where the majority of the victims were killed.

Most of those attending the service laid floral wreaths before joining a moment of silence.

With its conclusion, the crime scene was officially handed over to the Bali administration, particularly the people of Kuta, who would soon start preparations for an upcoming Hindu purification ceremony on Nov. 15.

"We have retrieved all necessary evidence and clues from the scene. Now we will enter the next stage, in which we will analyze all that stuff in the laboratory. We are very confident that we have all we need to nail these bad guys down," an Australian Federal Police (AFP) forensic team member said.

President Megawati had given the team until the end of November to clear the blast site, which has been closed to traffic and the general public since the fatal explosion took place on Oct. 12.

Meanwhile, police investigators were still struggling to find the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks, believed to be the second largest after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, which killed over 3,000 people.

Head of the investigation team Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika said on Friday that his team had received numerous tips from the public, claiming that they had seen the people described in the sketches that were released on Wednesday. Some had even provided the police with the names of the suspects, he said.

"Our officers are now investigating these tips, and checking to see whether they have a strong alibi or not when the blast occurred. We received more than 10 names, but there are less than 10 names that are currently under investigation," he said.

In Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday that police were confident that they had positively identified a suspect believed to have planted the bombs.

"The eyewitnesses confirmed that he was the one when we showed them a photograph which is quite similar to one of the sketches. So it simply means that the photograph and sketch refer to the same guy," Da'i said.

Da'i was referring to the man that fits the description of having droopy eyes, full cheeks and full lips and who is possibly from East Java.

"We went to the homes of his relatives and other places he frequents to find out if he had been there," said Da'i.

Police obtained the original photograph from the suspect's home after informants identified him as a bomb expert from the sketches based on the descriptions given by eyewitnesses.

Da'i said one of the witnesses was the owner of the Kijang van in which police had found traces of a chemical powder used in the bomb and who rented the vehicle to the three men in the sketches.

In addition, Da'i said police also had a key witness, named Chusnul Chatimah, who was undergoing medical treatment in Australia.

Police said that Chusnul saw someone place a package at the bomb site.

Da'i, however, said police were still investigating the group behind the bombings.

"We haven't finished our investigation yet," said Da'i.

A senior investigator on the police's joint inquiry team said in Kuta, on Friday that the bombers were well-trained, coordinated and had above average bomb-making skills.

"The information received to date would indicate that the individuals or groups responsible for the attack are well-trained and coordinated. One indication of this is the way in which the events were successfully planned and executed to achieve maximum casualties," Commander Steven Jackson of the AFP said at a news conference.

Jackson was the foreign investigator team's second in command.

"Additionally, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were well- placed to take advantage of the surrounding buildings at the incident site in Kuta. Technical experts in Bali have assessed the skill level of the bombmakers responsible for designing and building the IEDs used at the incident sites as of an above- average standard," Jackson said.

He also stressed that there was no evidence to suggest that any of the blasts were detonated by a suicide bomber.

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