Rusdihardjo says bomb at Caday's home a C4 type

JAKARTA (JP): National Police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo said his personnel had identified the bomb that exploded at the front gate of the Philippine ambassador's residence on Tuesday as a C4, a high velocity military plastic explosive.

"The bomb is like the ones made in the United States," Rusdihardjo said on Friday after meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid along with Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Admiral Widodo A.S. and Army chief Gen. Tyasno Sudarto at Merdeka Palace.

The C4 is more powerful and dangerous than TNT, he said.

According to a military-related information provider, www.torus.ndirect.co.uk, C4 is a high quality explosive, which is usually supplied in bulk drums in a powdery form. It is 18 percent more powerful than TNT, the website said.

The material has excellent mechanical and adhesive properties, and may be stretched into long strands without breakage, it said.

Rusdihardjo said police investigators also found blood at the blast site that did not match any of the 22 victims' samples.

"The blood could belong to another person who was injured but ran away," Rusdihardjo said.

The devastating blast at the residence of Philippine Ambassador Leonides T. Caday on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Central Jakarta on Tuesday at 12:20 p.m. killed two people, a security guard at the residence and a domestic helper from next door, and seriously injured 20 others, including Caday.

Separately, a reliable source from the National Police disclosed that investigators were searching for a man, identified as PR, shortly after the blast.

The senior officer said the man was earlier listed as one of the 21 victims injured in the blast. The unidentified man might have information on the blast, he said.

Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, which is the closest hospital to accept emergency cases, released information stating that the blast left 20 people seriously injured.

The source suspected that the person identified as PR left the hospital without revealing his identity.

"He was among the 21 victims listed by the police and he was the only person whose identity has not been made available," he said.

The source said the police searched several hospitals but found no trace of him. The officer, however, refused to disclose when the police found him and where they got his name.

None of the hospital's forensic experts could be reached for comment.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen Dadang Garnida said separately on Friday that his headquarters, in cooperation with the immigration office, provided a list of the Philippine nationals who had entered Indonesia recently for their counterparts in Manila.

"The Philippine National Police might come up with something later from the list," he added.

The head of the National Police Forensic Laboratory Center, Brig. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng, said he welcomed any foreign assistance in the investigation, but insisted that local forensic experts were capable to handle the case.

"Our capabilities, whether in human resources or the equipment, have already met international standards," Erwin announced at his office on Friday.

"But we welcome any country who would like to help," Erwin said.

When asked to comment, spokesman Dadang explained that offers of assistance had come from the United States and Philippine governments.

"If the assistance can speed up the investigation, why should we reject it?" Dadang said.

However, the officers could not give the arrival dates of foreign investigators or details on the assistance they could provide.

Dadang added that the bomb might have been detonated from a distance by using a remote control.

"The person could have detonated the bomb at the intersection, about 200 meters from the ambassador's residence," he said.

On the latest forensic developments in the case, Erwin corrected his earlier statement about the type of car that could have been used to place the bomb, which was blocking the entrance gate to the house.

"We're sure that the car was a red Suzuki Carry (minivan) after we found a license plate that reads 'Super Carry Extra' in the kitchen of the Bulgarian ambassador's residence. We believe that it was from the explosion," he said.

Erwin earlier told reporters that the car, which had been blown to pieces, was a Suzuki Katana jeep. (prb/jaw/asa)