Police hunt Irwanto's accomplice

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

Police investigators probing the Pekanbaru bombing have entered into a new stage of their investigations after they heard from witnesses that Irwanto, a key witness and possible suspect in the bombing, was not alone at the bomb scene.

Irwanto was found injured by police on Jl. Arengka, some 30 meters away from the blast site, shortly after the explosion early on Tuesday.

"According to several witnesses, Irwanto was not alone. He was accompanied by a person who was riding a motorcycle with him prior to the bombing. We are hunting Irwanto's accomplice to shed further light on the case," said the National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung.

The new information reinforced the suspicions voiced earlier by National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar. He told reporters on Wednesday that Irwanto, who is critically ill and now being treated in a hospital in Pekanbaru, was connected with the bombing.

Substances discovered on Irwanto's clothes were similar to the substances used in the bomb, Da'i said. In addition, he questioned why Irwanto was at the location so early on Tuesday morning when most other people were still asleep.

The bomb exploded in front of a shop-house on Jl. Arengka in Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province. Two people were killed in the bombing, and four others severely injured, including Irwanto. The explosion happened only hours before the Pekanbaru district court was due to open the trial of a man charged was involvement in the 2000 bombing of a Riau church on Christmas Eve, raising suspicions that there was connection between the bombing and the trial.

Separately in Jakarta on Friday, Dai told reporters that police investigators were probing whether the bombing was connected in any way with other bomb blasts in the country -- many of which are believed to have been the work of regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah.

The four-star police general also said that the Indonesian police were working together with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in probing the case.

He said that FBI officers would help the Indonesian Police to determine the type of explosives used in the Pekanbaru bombing, and whether there were similarities between these and the explosives used in other bomb attacks in the country.

The investigation into the Pekanbaru bombing was, however, fully under the control of the Indonesian police, with the FBI officers only giving advice where needed.

The FBI has been cooperating with the Indonesian police in investigating a number of bomb blasts, including those in Medan, at the J.W Marriott Hotel and the Bali bombings.