UN officers to assist Bali investigation team

UN officers to assist Bali investigation team

Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

United Nations investigators will join a multinational task
force in tracking down the perpetrators of the Bali bomb blasts
amid calls for the Indonesian Police to ensure that they have
full control and command of the investigation.

The UN investigators will join foreign intelligence officers
and investigators from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Germany,
Japan, Sweden and the United States. Most of the foreign officers
have already arrived. Australia has sent a total of 45
investigators, including 17 intelligence officers. Britain has
sent four investigators and a source told The Jakarta Post that
two of them are the best investigators at Scotland Yard.

Indonesian Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf insisted
that the police had full control of the team, which is headed by
Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika.

"They (foreign officers) can be considered consultants and
experts, but under one command, which is the (Indonesian)
police."

Meanwhile, chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama, Hasyim Muzadi, stated on Thursday that the
involvement of foreign intelligence officers in the investigation
into the bombing should be done in coordination with Indonesia's
security authorities.

"There is no problem with involving foreign intelligence
officers, but they must remain under the control of and work in
coordination with our own officers so that there is a clear limit
to their authority," Hasyim said in Malang, East Java.

Such a big team has also raised questions over effective
coordination and clearly defined duties, as well as the
information sharing mechanism among team members.

Responding to questions, Saleh refused to give clear-cut
answers, saying: "The point is that all the officers are
coordinating with one other in the field under the control of the
National Police.

The investigative team is tasked with identifying the
perpetrators of the blasts -- considered as the world's deadliest
strikes since the Sept. 11 attacks -- and bringing them to
justice.

The explosion in two nightclubs in Bali's busy district of
Kuta has caused the loss of at least 183 lives, mostly foreign
tourists. One of the clubs, the Sari Club, was an exclusive club
for foreigners only.

So far the multinational investigative team has held several
discussions on the case, during which they exchanged information.

"They're bringing their own data, which could be helpful in
providing some clues in the probe," Saleh said.