BALI - Indonesian investigators have yet to identify the three suicide bombers who blew themselves up in restaurants on Bali a week ago, killing 20 other people.
Police have arrested hundreds of Islamist militants, spoken to 150 witnesses and circulated photographs of the bombers' severed heads, so far to no
avail. After the terrorist bombings on the island in 2002, one vital clue, and diligent detective work, set police on the bombers' trail within hours. Progress is slower this time.
Last week's attacks on three restaurants - one in Kuta and two in Jimbaran, another tourist enclave - could have been carried out by an autonomous cell of radical Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
The bombers are believed to have visited each restaurant on the afternoon of the blasts and to have asked staff what their busiest time was.
The bombers had no police records and Bali police chief Made Mangku Pastika said they were probably enlisted just for last weekend's attacks.
More than 300 members of JI have been detained across Southeast Asia since the Sari Club blast. But some key figures are still at large, including Azahari bin Husin, a bomb-maker, and Noordin Mohamed Top.
On Friday, police raided a village in central Java where Noordin was believed to be hiding, but missed him by hours.
- INDEPENDENT
