Police release man resembling one of Bali bombing suspects

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Kupang

The police released on Saturday a man arrested in Ngada regency, East Nusa Tenggara, two days earlier for his resemblance to a sketch of a suspect in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed over 190 people.

The spokesman for the joint team investigating the bombings, Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said on Saturday the man, identified only by his initials R.S., was transferred from Ngada to Denpasar, via Maumere on Friday.

"However, after some questioning we determined this man was not the one we were looking for. So we released him today," he said.

Ngada Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Victor E. Simanjuntak announced on Thursday the police had arrested a Jakarta resident born in Ambon, who resembled one of the Bali suspects.

The man was detained at a bus terminal in the town of Bajawa on Flores island, about 500 kilometers east of Bali, he said.

The man, 33, with shoulder-length hair, attempted to hide his face with a newspaper when police picked him up at the bus terminal, Victor said.

"He is refusing to answer many of our questions," Victor said at the time.

Investigators said R.S. told them that he was vacationing in Flores and was in Bajawa looking for a hotel for the night.

The manhunt for those responsible for the Bali bombings is also taking place on Indonesia's main island of Java. Police raiding a house on the island found a photograph matching one of three suspects whose faces appeared in composite sketches released earlier this week.

About 120 Australian police and intelligence officers are working in Bali with detectives from Indonesia, the United States, Britain, Japan and other countries. About half of those killed in the Bali attack were Australian.

Indonesian Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Jalil has accused the al-Qaeda terror network of being involved in the bombings -- the world's most deadly terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

Neighboring Australia and other countries have identified Jamaah Islamiyah, an allegedly al-Qaeda-linked organization, as the most likely culprit in the bombings.