Bali probe focuses on two key witnesses

POLICE in Bali were last night intensively questioning two witnesses who may provide vital clues about Saturday’s bomb attack that killed almost 200 people.

The two, including a security guard, saw a suspicious-looking man with a white plastic bag near the entrance to the Sari Club just before the blast.

Officers said the pair were among about 50 people questioned over the last two days. They denied reports they were under arrest. Scotland Yard has sent experts to the island resort as Australia’s foreign minister urged Jakarta to allow an international investigation.

“Indonesians were killed, Australians were killed and other nationalities were killed and we should work together,” said Alexander Downer. Australians make up for the largest single group of victims, with 22 confirmed dead and 160 missing.

As police interviewed witnesses to the devastating attack that levelled the popular Kuta Beach nightspot, suspicions continued to focus on Jemaah

Islamiyah, a group linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida. In a surprise move yesterday, the group’s alleged spiritual leader said he would meet police in the capital Jakarta tomorrow.

But it was not clear whether Abu Bakar Bashir would be interviewed about the events in Bali. His spokesman said he would be discussing a lawsuit against Time news magazine, which published allegations that implicated him in other terrorist activities.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri is under huge pressure to crack down on groups like Jemaah Islamiyah, but analysts said arresting Bashir could provoke extremists in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

In Washington, US President George Bush said he planned to talk to Ms Megawati about the need to tackle terrorism. As they questioned witnesses and survivors on the tropical island yesterday, police said the blast that collapsed the Sari Club was probably caused by plastic explosives.

They said they hoped the two Indonesians who saw the man with the plastic bag might provide more clues. In addition to the security guard, intelligence officers said the second man questioned was the brother of a man whose ID card was found at the scene of the blast. They did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, contradictory reports emerged about a group of 10 Pakistanis. The group, which was apparently licensed to carry out religious activities on Bali, was questioned after the blasts, according to one police report.

Another police report said the men were quizzed about their visas a month ago and it was no longer clear if they were still in Indonesia. None of the reports linked the group to Saturday’s massacre.

Indonesia’s intelligence chief Mohamad Abdul Hendropriyono said the investigation was too big for local forces to handle on their own.

“This attack has been well planned and it required expertise in handling hi-tech bombs,” he said. “It is a very complicated task and is outside the ability of locals.”

The Scotland Yard detectives will join US and Australian agents already helping the Indonesian authorities.

Elsewhere, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his country would seek to have Jemaah Islamiyah listed as a terrorist organisation.

Australian officials “have received indications from other countries that that move will be supported,” he told parliament in Canberra.