Police question two suspects over blast

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."