Police question two suspects over blast
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police are questioning two people, at least one is Indonesian, suspected of links to the blasts in Bali's Kuta area last Saturday as investigators from Australia and other countries arrived to conduct investigations on the bombings that claimed 181 lives.
"We questioned them intensively to find out why they were there (in Kuta) and what they were doing," National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said of the suspects on Tuesday.
He added that one of the two suspects was at the blast scene and the other was a relative of a person whose ID card was found at the blast scene.
The relative of the ID card owner, from West Nusa Tenggara province, refused to talk to the police, said Da'i.
Da'i refused to reveal the identities of the two men.
Last Saturday's blast killed 181 people, wounded 328 others. It also completely destroyed six buildings, seriously damaged 11 others, destroyed 20 cars and six motorcycles.
Da'is also said the Indonesian Police was receiving assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the United States, Australia, Britain and Germany.
He stressed that despite the assistance, the authority of the investigation remained with the Indonesian Police.
Meanwhile Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday Australia had deployed 17 intelligence officers and would send another 23 to Bali to help with the investigation. They would stay in Bali for an indefinite time, said Downer.
Downer said the intelligence officers were members of the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs however said some of the officers were members of another Australian intelligence agency.
Besides the two main suspects, Bali police have also questioned some 50 people in connection with the blast, including 10 Pakistanis. Bali Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Y. Suyatmo denied the questioning of the Pakistanis was connected to the investigation on the blasts.
During their stay, the Pakistanis held discussions and gave lectures on social and religious matters in various places on the island. However, the Pakistanis never informed the police of their activities, said Suyatmo.
According to the regulation, activities that involve a group of people must be reported to the police or held with permission from related authorities.
Da'i said that the police would also follow up on Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil's allegation of al-Qaeda's involvement in the blast.
"But there is no proof yet to support the suspicion," said Da'i.
Bali Police chief Brig. Gen. Budi Setyawan said so far there had been no indications of al-Qaeda's involvement in the blasts.
"... but it is not impossible that this involved an international network," Budi said as quoted by Antara.
Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil said the government welcomed intelligence assistance from Australia and the U.S. to help solve the Bali bombing.
"It's positive because intelligence cooperation is a common thing within the international community, so we must look at it from a positive point of view," he said while witnessing a the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) exercise in Sukabumi, West Java.
Matori insisted that the blast was the work of al-Qaeda operatives in Indonesia.
He lamented the fact the majority of the Indonesian public had been duped by anti-American groups who had convinced them that every bit of information coming from the U.S. was always either a type of social engineering or slander.
He dismissed allegations of a lack of coordination among Indonesia's intelligence bodies, but said terrorist threats were new to Indonesia.
He stressed that Indonesian and international intelligence agencies had uncovered the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in Indonesia.
"But we need to prove that they have violated some law before we can act," he stressed.
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais meanwhile urged the government to form an international team to solve the explosions in Bali and Manado, North Sulawesi.
"The government needs to form an international team because we have been unable to uncover the masterminds of the tragedy," Amien said as quoted by Antara.
Meanwhile House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno warned that foreign involvement in the investigation of the Bali bombing must be done under the coordination of the Indonesian police.
"I hope foreign involvement remains under police coordination to maintain the authority of the Indonesian government," said Soetardjo.
He speculated that the masterminds of the Bali bombing were foreigners who cooperated with locals.
"The mastermind is definitely a foreign group. There are people who want to see the government collapse," he added. However, Soetardjo refused the allegation that the bombing was done by Muslims.
"As a Muslim, I object to any effort to link any terrorism with Islam and I urge all Muslims not to be offended (by the accusation) which is baseless."