Police should focus on RDX not chlorate, expert says

Police should focus on RDX not chlorate, expert says

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Conflicting statements issued by the Australian Federal Police
(AFP) and the National Police on the specific materials used in
the Oct. 12 Bali bombings have prompted a researcher with the
National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) to urge police to focus the
investigation on the chemical RDX.

"Just focus on RDX as it will lead to larger networks behind
the bombings, not only Amrozi's (network)," said Hermawan
Sulistyo, who has joined the team investigating the Bali blasts
formed by the Bali Police Headquarters.

Amrozi is the only suspect in detention so far.

Hermawan said an investigation into the source of RDX might
be beneficial and significant in the effort to uncover the group
that masterminded the bombings.

RDX (Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine) is a basic compound found
in the C-4 explosive, which is made according to military
specifications.

Police have said they are still in the dark over the place
where the bombers obtained the main materials used in the Bali
bombings.

The head of the AFP contingent in Bali, Graham Aston, has said
his team had so far only found chlorate and TNT. The AFP's
findings were at odds with those obtained by both the joint
investigation team, consisting of international investigators and
forensic experts, and National Police officers. Both have
confirmed that the explosives used in the Bali bombings contained
three major compounds: TNT (Trinitrotoluene), RDX, HMX (high
melting explosive), plus a detonator filled with PETN
(Pentaerythritoltetranitrate).

Hermawan said the discovery at the blast scene of traces of
chlorate as one of the materials used in the bombs, as reported
by the AFP, only matches the chemicals purchased by Amrozi at the
Tidar Kimia chemical shop in Surabaya. Still, the discovery is
not reliable due to several fundamental reasons, he said.

"First, the AFP team came four days after the blasts so their
findings are likely to be inaccurate. We cannot use those
findings as the blast site had been contaminated," Hermawan said.

Second, Hermawan said that judging from the devastation caused
by the blasts, which included a four-meter-wide, 60-centimeter-
deep crater, the perpetrators would have needed one ton of
chlorate-based explosives.

Such a huge amount of explosives did not match the fact that
the most powerful explosion was caused by the bomb placed in the
small Mitsubishi L-300 van, which had been deliberately left by
the perpetrators with the key in the lock.

"The allegation is likely meant to simplify the case by
linking the explosives to the chemicals bought by Amrozi," said
Hermawan.

Police have said that the traces of chemicals found at the
blast scene were also found in the places that the bombers
visited in the days prior to the bombings. They include Hotel
Harum on Jl. Teuku Umar, a rented room on Jl. Gatot Subroto and
another rented room on Jl. Marlboro in Denpasar.

According to the police, Amrozi confirmed the findings and
said that prior to the bombings, the bombers had visited those
places.

Police have said Amrozi played a minor role in the bombings as
he only procured the vehicles used in the bombings and some
additional chemicals used in the explosives. Police also
confirmed that the chemicals purchased by Amrozi at the chemical
shop in Surabaya were not the main materials used in the
bombings.

"They were only a combination of the explosives, but the main
materials were TNT and RDX," Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika
said earlier.

Pastika also said he believed those chemicals could be
obtained here in Indonesia.

He said that Amrozi had bought the chemicals, including
ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate, aluminum powder and sulfur
from the shop. The chemicals weighed one ton.

Meanwhile, National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward
Aritonang revealed that the findings obtained by the AFP and the
National Police were different due to the different locations and
samples taken for laboratory analysis.

"The difference is only due to the different times and
locations of the investigation," said Aritonang.

Aritonang, however, played down allegations that there had
been discord between the National Police and the AFP.