Two suspects arrested for Manado blast
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The police have apparently arrested two suspects in the bombing incident at the Philippines consulate in Manado, North Sulawesi, following a series of questioning, a high-ranking officer said on Tuesday.
North Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. I. Lebang said the two were among seven people questioned by the police after Saturday's bombing, which was apparently coordinated to go off around the same time as the devastating bombs in Bali.
He however refused to reveal their nationalities, only saying that they were in their 30s, with the initials IND and JS. They are currently in detention at the Manado police headquarters.
However, Lebang also refused to provide further details or the place where the two were arrested by the police.
"The two suspects are still undergoing thorough interrogation to find out who the mastermind was behind the bombing incident," Officer Lebang said as quoted by Antara.
The arrest was welcomed by the Philippines embassy in Jakarta, praising the police for their investigative work.
The world was shocked on Saturday when at least four bombs went off almost simultaneously, one in Manado, two in Kuta, Bali and one in Denpasar near an American consular office. Manado and Bali have long been perceived as the safest areas of the country amid social and religious upheaval in hundreds of other areas.
No casualties were reported in the Manado attack, which happened moments before the Bali bombings that claimed at least 180 lives and injured more than 300 people.
However, the people of Manado, mostly Christian, were dismayed by the incident as it was the first time the city was under such a threat, even during the volatile last 4 years in the country, in which dozens of bomb attacks have occurred.
Lebang said that so far the police did not know whether to link the two suspects with known terror networks or to the carnage in Bali, as the investigation was still ongoing.
In a related development, the Indonesian Navy has increased its surveillance in the waters between Indonesia and the Philippines following the latest bombing attacks.
Commander of the sixth Navy fleet, based in North Sulawesi, Commodore Kenny Welong said on Tuesday that due to the escalating situation, the Navy would carefully assess the possible threats in the area.
He said that the Navy had assigned two warships in the border areas, with the regular duties of preventing illegal fishing and other transnational crimes.
However, following the bombings the surveillance had to be intensified, the commodore added.
The waters between North Sulawesi and Southern Philippines are one of the most prone for the illegal arms trafficking, from the Muslim separatists in the Philippines to the Indonesian sectarian conflict areas in Maluku and Poso.