Probe goes on amid snafu about suspects

Dadan Wijaksana and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Jakarta

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono admitted on Thursday the possible involvement of foreigners in last Saturday's bombing in Bali amid confusion over the number of people who had been declared suspects.

The Indonesian Police said on Thursday they were focusing their investigations on four people, but another police report said there were now eight suspects, including one foreigner.

"There could be involvement by both foreigners and Indonesians, or there could be collaboration between them.

"But once again, I have to wait until the investigation is sufficiently advanced to give any sort of clarification," Susilo said during a press conference in Bali.

Earlier on Tuesday, National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief A.M. Hendropriyono said the technology and skills employed by the attackers indicated they were from abroad.

Hendro was referring to the C4 plastic explosive used in the Bali bombing, which is a very powerful substance mainly manufactured in the United States but widely supplied to military forces around the world.

Susilo's remark may serve as an indication that the government is about to take a tougher stance against the country's radical groups, accused by many of having links to international terrorists.

Susilo also vowed to take action against any of the radicals if they were proven to have been involved in terrorist acts.

Early this week, the government finally admitted that al-Qaeda and Jamaah Islamiyah were present in Indonesia.

Susilo also met with Bali Police chief Brig. Gen. Budi Setyawan to discuss developments in the blast probe.

Budi said the police had yet to charge anyone as a suspect although they had questioned 45 witnesses.

"We have released 40 witnesses and now the investigations are focused on four people: two civilians, one security guard and a former Air Force officer. Two of the witnesses have been flown to Jakarta because other intelligence officers needed them there for further questioning," Budi said.

Bali Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Yatim Suyatmo, meanwhile, said that investigators were intensively questioning a group of eight people, one foreigner and seven Indonesians.

"We hope that we will be able to establish any possible links they had with the culprits," Yatim told The Associated Press, but failed to identify them.

The combined team of investigators from Indonesia and six other countries is in charge of the overall investigation. The six countries are Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Japan, Britain and the United States.

AP also quoted an unnamed Malaysian government official who suspected a wanted Malaysian with bomb-making skills to have been involved in the Bali blast.

The official said the suspect, identified as Azahari Husin, was among seven militants who fled to Indonesia in January as Malaysia and Singapore arrested scores of suspects allegedly plotting to bomb the U.S. and other Western embassies in Singapore.

"Our intelligence shows that Azahari is likely to have had a hand in the bombing. He is well trained in all types of bombs, especially remote-controlled explosives," he said.

The official offered no evidence, but said the conclusions were reached by Malaysian intelligence, which has successfully disrupted the network at home so far.

It was not clear whether the suspect was the same person who deputized a team of seven people mentioned by Indonesian intelligence officers as having orchestrated the Bali strikes.

As reported earlier by this newspaper, investigators were intensifying their efforts to seek information about the group, which they said had entered the country through Semarang in Central Java just two days before the attacks occurred.

The sources said the group was led by a Yemeni and deputized by a Malaysian, while the other members remained unknown, although two of them were believed to have links with a string of bomb attacks in the Philippines.

When asked to comment on the existence of the group of seven, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said he had yet to receive any information about it.

In a related development, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told reporters on Thursday that the reason behind the questioning of the former Air Force officer, identified as Dedi Masrukhin, was that there were suspicions that needed to be looked into.

He added that among the things that called for an investigation were his alibi and experience, given his expertise in explosives.

Dedi learned his explosives' skills in the U.S. when he was serving in the Air Force. He was discharged from the service last year for drug abuse.