Police hunt for Bali bombing masterminds
BALI, Indonesia, Monday (Reuters) Police on Monday scrutinised an
amateur video tape showing a man apparently with a backpack entering a
Bali restaurant seconds before one of three suicide bombings which
killed up to 27 people and wounded 125.
A top anti-terrorism official said the investigation into Saturday's
attacks was focusing on Islamic militants blamed for earlier bloody
bombings in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Three separate bombs tore through restaurants packed with Saturday
evening diners, many of them foreign tourists. Two were outdoor seafood
eateries on Jimbaran Beach and one a steak bar at Kuta Beach, an area
surrounded by popular shops.
The attacks were the latest of a series of bombings in Indonesia in
recent years. Several have been against Western targets, hurting tourism
and raising investors' security fears.
Asked on Monday if the same group as in 2002 appeared to be behind
the latest blasts, Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian counter-terrorism
official, said: ""Yes, the investigation is moving to that direction."
In terms of whether that specifically meant Jemaah Islamiah and two
of its fugitive leaders, Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M.
Top, Mbai told Reuters:
"What is clear and important from this incident is that all those
groups who have been here for some time still have the capabilities to
operate. This group is not dead. It keeps on moving actively recruiting
more people."Mbai, head of the counter-terrorism desk at the office of
the chief security minister, said he thought Azahari and Top were both
still in Indonesia. "The latest incident clearly shows they have
activities," he added.One reason experts link JI to the blasts is the
use of suicide bombers, typical of attacks for which they have been
blamed in recent years.
"We have reached a conclusion that they were suicide bombings," Bali
police chief Made Mangku Pastika told a late Sunday news conference.
"There are pieces from either a jacket or a bag that were attached to
the bodies. The pieces from their torsos spattered to all directions,"
Pastika said, adding that the composition of the bombs included TNT and
metal slugs.
He said the severed heads of three people believed to be the suicide
bombers had been recovered. Photos of the heads displayed by police
appeared to show they were young Asian men. Pastika said the suicide
bombers could not have acted alone and a larger group of people must
have been involved.
On Monday morning a team of what appeared to be four foreign
forensics experts was seen entering the Kuta Beach bomb site. Australia
has said it would send investigators to help. There were no immediate
claims of responsibility. Typically groups have not taken credit for
major bombings in Indonesia.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in Bali on Sunday the blasts
would only strengthen Jakarta's resolve. "We will do more in our
national effort in fighting terrorism," he said.Police said Jakarta, the
sprawling capital city of 12 million people, was on high alert, with
some 18,000 officers on standby.
A Bali hospital official said on Monday that 16 of 27 dead had so far
been identified - 14 Indonesians, one Australian and one Japanese. |