This report out of Indonesia, by way of the Washington Post, sounds like they have some leads on these Terrorists.
washingtonpost.com
Traces of Explosives Found in Wreckage
By Alan Sipress and Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, October 16, 2002; Page A19
KUTA, Indonesia, Oct. 16 (Wednesday) -- Indonesian investigators have recovered traces of C-4 plastic explosives at the scene of the bombing Saturday night in Bali that killed at least 181 people, National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar said.
The material is similar to the explosives used to bomb the residence of the Philippine ambassador in Jakarta in August 2000, an attack that Philippine intelligence officials have blamed on a radical Islamic network known as Jemaah Islamiah.
That group, which Western and regional intelligence officials say is headed by radical Indonesian cleric Abubakar Baasyir, is active in several Southeast Asian countries. Baasyir has denied involvement in the Bali bombing.
The police chief, Bachtiar, also said Tuesday that investigators were "intensively" interrogating two other men in connection with the attack. Police officials said one was a guard who witnessed the attack and the other was related to a person whose identification card was recovered at the scene. Police said they have questioned about 50 people.
Early today, an Indonesian security official said authorities had detained a former military officer who might have assembled the bomb.
Another government official, however, cautioned that it remains unclear whether the man is responsible. This official said the Indonesian joint terrorism task force is moving closer to the suspected perpetrators.
"We are very close and have enough information to follow the right direction," the official said.
Meanwhile, the United States and other countries continued to pressure the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri to crack down hard on its homegrown militants.
"This has been a very sobering experience for the Indonesian leadership when they see this kind of tragedy," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said in Washington on Tuesday. "So we now can see that you are not exempt from this; you cannot pretend it doesn't exist in your country. It exists everywhere where conditions are right and where this kind of terrorist organization can thrive. And that's why we have to go after them wherever they are."
In the week leading up to the Bali bombing, senior U.S. officials repeatedly warned Megawati's government that they believed militants in Indonesia from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network were planning attacks on American targets, according to U.S. and Indonesian officials.
U.S. Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce raised these concerns on several occasions with Megawati and her top security advisers. He also arranged last week to have Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commander in chief of U.S. Pacific Command, call the influential chief of the Indonesian military, Endriartono Sutarto, to press U.S. concerns that extremists linked with Jemaah Islamiah were posing an urgent threat to Americans, according to senior officials from both countries.
Senior U.S. officials made clear that the Bush administration would withdraw many diplomats and embassy families from Jakarta unless Indonesian authorities stepped up their efforts to investigate and capture suspected militants. After the attack in Bali, U.S. officials moved immediately to pull nonessential diplomats and embassy families from Indonesia.
Megawati and her cabinet greeted the warnings with skepticism, particularly those concerning Jemaah Islamiah. To persuade the Indonesians that intelligence about the Jamaah Islamiah was genuine, the Americans permitted Indonesian authorities to question Omar al-Farouq, a Kuwaiti operative linked to al Qaeda.
The U.S. officials said they expected action from Indonesia's security forces before Megawati is scheduled to meet President Bush on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting next week in Mexico, according to sources familiar with the conversations.
Indonesian government officials said today that Megawati plans to announce an emergency law this week that would give authorities new powers to apprehend suspected terrorists. The law, which would be in force for one year and then would be subject to parliamentary approval, would enable anti-terrorism investigators to hold suspects for at least seven days without charging them.
One of Indonesia's most violent Islamic militant groups, Laskar Jihad, announced Tuesday that it was disbanding and suspending operations in the eastern region of the Moluccas islands, where radical militiamen two years ago intervened on the side of local Muslims feuding with the neighboring Christian community. Thousands have been killed in clashes in the Moluccas.
Intelligence officials have not linked Laskar Jihad to the Bali explosion or other terrorist attacks on foreigners. But the sudden announcement Tuesday signaled that the group has decided to lower its profile at a time when Megawati faces foreign pressure.
"It has nothing to do with the bombs. There was no pressure on us from military. It is an internal matter," said the group's spokesman, Achmad Michdan. He said religious scholars in Indonesia and the Middle East had disagreed with the teachings of Laskar Jihad leader Jafar Umar Thalib, asking him to dissolve the group.
A senior police official said 5,400 officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, are now engaged in a massive operation on Bali, a resort island, to determine who was responsible for the worst terrorist attack in Indonesia's history.
Indonesian forensic investigators continued picking through the blackened ruins, collecting the engine block, carburetor and other bits of the vehicle that they believe was used in the bombing in the Kuta entertainment district. Specialists from the FBI, Australia and Japan were helping.
The head of Indonesian intelligence, Mohamad Abdul Hendropriyono, said Tuesday during a visit to Sanglah hospital in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, that "this attack has been well-planned and it required expertise in handling high-tech" bombs. "It is a very complicated task and is outside the ability of local hands."
The corridors of the hospital are becoming less chaotic. Most foreigners have been airlifted out, but 31 Indonesians remain in the wards. Medical officials said about 40 bodies have been identified and about 140 others remain in the hospital morgue, tightly guarded by Indonesian soldiers. Dozens of plywood coffins are stacked outside, awaiting bodies that have been identified.
Indonesian officials said authorities have broadened their investigation and were following leads in several regions of the sprawling archipelago where Islamic militants suspected of ties to al Qaeda have been active, including eastern Java, southern Sulawesi and Lombok.
In Manado, located on northern Sulawesi island, police are questioning two suspects, both local residents, in connection with the bombing there of the Philippine consular office, also on Saturday. No one was hurt in that attack. Police said they were not sure if it was connected to the Bali bombing.
The investigation has taken on great urgency because of concerns that the Bali attack might be the opening of a broader campaign to target Westerners in Southeast Asia.
"There is some concern that this isn't just an isolated incident," said Andrew Tan, a security analyst at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Security Studies. "This could well be the first of a number of attacks in this region."
The primary focus of the investigation remains Jemaah Islamiah, which intelligence officials from Indonesia and Western governments have linked to al Qaeda. According to Tan and other analysts, Jemaah Islamiah is present in Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. It also has an arm in Australia, Tan said.
Nakashima reported from Jakarta. Staff writer Peter Slevin in Washington contributed to this report |
