Police quiz two Indonesians in terror hunt

Two Indonesians are being interrogated in Bali after the weekend's devastating blasts, which could have been caused by plastic explosives, authorities revealed last night.

As the hunt for the terrorists who killed 180 people and wounded scores intensified, Indonesia's national police chief confirmed: "We are interrogating two people intensively."

Da'i Bachtiar said one person was related to someone whose identification card had been found at the blast site, but had not been located.

"One said he was present when the incident occurred."

It has also emerged that a type of extremely powerful military plastic explosive could have been used in the attack when a small bomb went off outside a bar in Kuta, Bali's tourist centre, followed seconds later by a huge car bomb blast outside the Sari night club.

Indonesia's intelligence chief, Hendropriyono, told a reporter: "Yes, one of them [the bombs] is of C4.

"That information has not been released formally."

C4 is a stable and easily transportable explosive that is extremely powerful. Its use has bolstered theories that the terrorists were a well-organised group, possibly with links inside the Indonesian military which has C4.

The Indonesian Government has been blaming al Qaeda operatives working with local Islamic radicals for the attack, but the head of the main Islamic group, suspected of being involved, denounced the claims as "cruel and mean lies".

Yesterday, Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil emerged from an emergency Cabinet meeting to announce Indonesia's belief that al Qaeda terrorists were operating on its soil - the first time it had made such an admission. "We are sure al Qaeda is here. The Bali bomb is linked to al Qaeda with the co-operation of local terrorists."

The minister said the sophistication of the attack suggested the work of professionals.

But elderly cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah (Islamic Community), a radical group with links to al Qaeda, said yesterday he would submit to police questioning - even though Indonesian police said they had no plans to interview him.

Bashir said the US was trying to wipe out leaders of Islam by accusing them of terrorism.

"I have no knowledge of terrorist groups and what was done in Bali is an evil, unethical action."

Police have questioned Bashir, who has praised al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, in the past, but Indonesia has usually resisted calls by neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia to arrest him as a terror suspect, citing lack of evidence.

A US State Department analysis of the attack concluded that the attackers had foreign help and the investigation would lead nowhere.

"The perpetrators will neither be identified nor apprehended," it said.

Investigators from Australia, which has borne the brunt of the blasts with scores thought dead, arrived in Bali yesterday to join FBI and Scotland Yard detectives in the investigation.

A team of 46 Australian Federal Police and Asio (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) agents - including crime scene examiners, search and rescue experts, bomb experts and intelligence officers - face a scene of chaos, with leading forensic and policing experts describing their task as near-impossible.

Forensic and fingerprint experts were included in a bid to identify dozens of charred bodies at the scene.


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Feature: Bali bomb blast

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