Police investigate bomb suspects' ties with military

Tiarma Siboro and I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

The joint team investigating the Bali bombing said Sunday they had obtained the names and the addresses of three men believed to have been involved in the blasts and were now investigating whether they had any connection to the Indonesian military.

Meanwhile a nation-wide manhunt continued on Sunday following the release last week by the National Police of the sketches of the three men, with efforts being focused on East Java, where one of the suspects is believed to have come from.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said last week the man had been identified as a bomb expert.

So far the manhunt has been fruitless.

The team has refused to reveal the names or the addresses of the three men.

"Looking at how they worked -- which was using TNT and RDX as explosive ingredients, and also the timing of the blasts which was aimed at causing as many fatalities as possible -- we concluded that these three men are professional," team spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang told a press conference here on Sunday.

"Based on that conclusion, we are currently coordinating with other intelligence bodies, including from the military, to make a list of their bomb experts, including those who have deserted from their units," Aritonang said.

He refused to go into details but asserted that the team was "looking for further directions from other intelligence bodies."

The Bali bomb blasts at two nightclubs -- Paddy's cafe and Sari Club -- in Jalan Legian, Kuta on Oct. 12, killed more than 200 people, mostly foreigners, and injured hundreds of others. Nearly 200 people, both local and foreigners, are reportedly still missing.

Earlier, the multinational investigation team revealed that the explosive ingredients used at Paddy's cafe and Sari Club were TNT, RDX, and Chloride (CLO3). Another bomb that exploded near the U.S. consulate general on Jalan Raya Puputan Renon in the Denpasar suburb of Renon was TNT.

RDX is an explosive ingredient that is used in C4, a plastic explosive that is primarily made in the U.S. but is used by the military around the world.

A source said that of the hundreds of bombing cases in Indonesia since 1998 to 2002, only the bombing at the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta in 2000 contained similar explosives.

Meanwhile, police across the country have stepped up security measures and efforts to find the three suspects. Intelligence sources also said Sunday that there were several places in the country where it would be possible to hide, including Timika in Papua, Poso in Central Sulawesi, Surabaya in East Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi.

The sources said they believed that none of the perpetrators, including foreigners suspected of involvement in the Bali bombing, had flown abroad as they were still waiting for the right time.

"It is difficult for these foreign perpetrators -- if they were involved -- to fly abroad because they need a new passport which, of course, is not supposed to have an entrance clearance," one of the sources said, adding the foreign perpetrators would likely hide for about six months prior to obtaining a new identity.

Following the launch of the nationwide manhunt, the police arrested a man identified as R.S. in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara on Friday. He was later taken to Bali. According to a Flores police report, R.S. showed an unusual attitude and also had no ID card.

Nevertheless, the team released R.S. immediately on Saturday, because "he is not the one that we are looking for, nor has any connection to the Bali bombing."

Regarding another man identified as M.F. from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Aritonang said that he might be a victim rather than a suspect.

"We have clarified this with his family and they said that M.F. went to Bali to look for a job. His family admitted that he is missing and that they are looking for him," Aritonang said, adding that it was not necessary for the police to match M.F.'s identity card to the sketches considering that "M.F. has no relation to the tragedy."

M.F. was a man whose identity card was found by the police at the blast site. Previously, police believed that M.F. was a possible suspect.

On Oct. 16 Indonesian police arrested a former Air Force officer who confessed to building the bomb.

Quoting Indonesian security sources, the Washington Post said the suspect regretted the huge loss of life in the bomb attack but had yet to reveal who ordered him to build the bomb.