Team concludes probe, but no arrests are made

Team concludes probe, but no arrests are made

The Jakarta Post, Kuta/Jakarta

A multinational team investigating the site of the Bali terrorist
attacks concluded its probe on Friday, but members of the team
are still struggling to find the perpetrators of the blast that
killed 190 and injured over 300 others.

A brief memorial service attended by several foreign
diplomats, including British and U.S. ambassadors, marked the
completion and was presided over by Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) chaplain Patrick Woods.

The memorial was held in the area in front of the Sari Club, a
popular nightspot devastated by the powerful explosion, and where
the majority of the victims were killed.

Most of those attending the service laid floral wreaths before
joining a moment of silence.

With its conclusion, the crime scene was officially handed
over to the Bali administration, particularly the people of Kuta,
who would soon start preparations for an upcoming Hindu
purification ceremony on Nov. 15.

"We have retrieved all necessary evidence and clues from the
scene. Now we will enter the next stage, in which we will analyze
all that stuff in the laboratory. We are very confident that we
have all we need to nail these bad guys down," an Australian
Federal Police (AFP) forensic team member said.

President Megawati had given the team until the end of
November to clear the blast site, which has been closed to
traffic and the general public since the fatal explosion took
place on Oct. 12.

Meanwhile, police investigators were still struggling to find
the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks, believed to be the
second largest after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and
Washington, which killed over 3,000 people.

Head of the investigation team Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku
Pastika said on Friday that his team had received numerous tips
from the public, claiming that they had seen the people described
in the sketches that were released on Wednesday. Some had even
provided the police with the names of the suspects, he said.

"Our officers are now investigating these tips, and checking
to see whether they have a strong alibi or not when the blast
occurred. We received more than 10 names, but there are less than
10 names that are currently under investigation," he said.

In Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on
Friday that police were confident that they had positively
identified a suspect believed to have planted the bombs.

"The eyewitnesses confirmed that he was the one when we showed
them a photograph which is quite similar to one of the sketches.
So it simply means that the photograph and sketch refer to the
same guy," Da'i said.

Da'i was referring to the man that fits the description of
having droopy eyes, full cheeks and full lips and who is possibly
from East Java.

"We went to the homes of his relatives and other places he
frequents to find out if he had been there," said Da'i.

Police obtained the original photograph from the suspect's
home after informants identified him as a bomb expert from the
sketches based on the descriptions given by eyewitnesses.

Da'i said one of the witnesses was the owner of the Kijang van
in which police had found traces of a chemical powder used in the
bomb and who rented the vehicle to the three men in the sketches.

In addition, Da'i said police also had a key witness, named
Chusnul Chatimah, who was undergoing medical treatment in
Australia.

Police said that Chusnul saw someone place a package at the
bomb site.

Da'i, however, said police were still investigating the group
behind the bombings.

"We haven't finished our investigation yet," said Da'i.

A senior investigator on the police's joint inquiry team said
in Kuta, on Friday that the bombers were well-trained,
coordinated and had above average bomb-making skills.

"The information received to date would indicate that the
individuals or groups responsible for the attack are well-trained
and coordinated. One indication of this is the way in which the
events were successfully planned and executed to achieve maximum
casualties," Commander Steven Jackson of the AFP said at a news
conference.

Jackson was the foreign investigator team's second in command.

"Additionally, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were well-
placed to take advantage of the surrounding buildings at the
incident site in Kuta. Technical experts in Bali have assessed
the skill level of the bombmakers responsible for designing and
building the IEDs used at the incident sites as of an above-
average standard," Jackson said.

He also stressed that there was no evidence to suggest that
any of the blasts were detonated by a suicide bomber.