Two men identified as Palopo bombers
Andi Hajramuni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi
Police have identified two men believed to have been responsible for the bombing in Palopo, some 400 kilometers north of Makassar, which killed four people on Saturday.
After questioning 17 witnesses on Sunday, the police produced sketches of two men who left the crime scene just 15 minutes before the explosion ripped through the Samppodo Indah cafe.
"The two men were identified as the last people who had sat at the table where the bomb was placed. They left the crime scene just 15 minutes before the explosion," Luwu police precinct deputy chief Adj.Comr. Wisnu Widarto said on Sunday.
However the men had yet to be declared suspects.
Wisnu said that the sketches would not be published and refused to describe the men, saying that the sketches would only be used by the police to stop the men from leaving the province.
According to the witnesses, the two men had visited the cafe on the past two weekends, but unlike other guests they never stayed long.
The two men came again on Saturday night and sat at table No. 11 near the door. Witnesses said they only ordered drinks and left without finishing them.
The explosion was heard up to two kilometers away. Most of the customers fled the cafe by the back door before the police arrived.
The low-explosive homemade bomb killed four people and injured three others.
The deceased were identified as Abdul Rahman, 26, Ambo, 30, Sumarni, 39, all residents of Palopo, and Suratman, 27.
The injured were two waiters -- Arif, 20 and Esy, 21 -- and another man identified as Awal Dulla, 19, who is still in intensive care at Sawerigading Hospital.
Wisnu said that bomb resulted in a 30-centimeter rent in the wooden floor. The police suspect that the bomb was placed under a bench.
The police said that they had no idea as yet what the motives behind the bombing of the entertainment spot on Bone Bay might be.
The police have questioned witnesses, including the owner, waiters and guests of the cafe, who were at the scene when the explosion occurred.
South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Jusuf Manggabarani arrived at the location on Sunday and immediately set up an investigating team that includes antiterror officers and forensic experts from National Police Headquarters.
The province has suffered a series of terrorist attacks in the recent past, as well as riots between villagers and between military and police personnel.
On Dec. 5, 2002, a bomb ripped through a McDonald's outlet in Makassar, South Sulawesi, killing three people.
Sixteen defendants were sentenced to jail terms ranging from two years to 18 years for this attack. One defendant, Kaharuddin Mustafa, was acquitted of all charges.
However, the alleged masterminds of the McDonald's bombing, Agung Abdul Hamid and Anshar Daeng Salam, remain at large.
This and other bomb attacks, like the Oct. 12, 2002, Bali bombings and the Aug. 5, 2003, JW Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta, have been blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah network.