INDONESIAN police prepared a massive security operation involving 3,000 officers, including marksmen, on the eve of the first trial of a Bali bombing suspect.

INVESTIGATORS probing last week’s Bali nightclub bombing said yesterday they are making progress though authorities still have to interrogate the ailing spiritual leader of a militant group suspected in the attack which left up to 30 Britons dead.

Indonesia’s government, reeling from a bomb attack that killed at least 180 people, acknowledged for the first time that al-Qaida is active on its soil - setting the stage for a possible crackdown on extremists.