Police question eight Bali blast suspects

A GROUP of eight people are the prime suspects in the Bali nightclub bombing, police in the tropical resort said yesterday.

The eight, including seven Indonesians and one foreigner, are being "intensively questioned". None of them were identified.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard attended a memorial service in Bali yesterday amid growing anger over claims his government failed to act on intelligence warnings of terrorist threats to Asian tourist spots ahead of the attack in which up to 200 people died. Mr Howard told mourners he would do everything possible to bring those responsible to justice.

Mr Howard is under pressure to explain why his government failed to act on intelligence reports forwarded by the US which warned of an increased terrorist risk in tourist spots in Asia.

He admitted to Parliament that the government had received an intelligence report in September of a rising terrorist threat in Indonesia, and that the report mentioned Bali. However, the report did not speak of a specific threat on the island and intelligence agencies judged that the current threat assessment was sufficient.

Word of the intelligence reports have turned grief to anger among survivors, and relatives and friends of the dead and missing. Australian opposition parties want Mr Howard to explain why the US Embassy in Jakarta warned its citizens to stay away from tourist areas in Indonesia, but Canberra's last travel advice in September did not, and even said tourism services on Bali were "operating normally". Foreign minister Alexander Downing urged Australians to leave Indonesia, saying that officials had received "disturbing" new information about threats to Westerners in several South-East Asian countries.

One Irish diplomat is remaining in Bali to provide essential services in the wake of the bombing. The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised Irish people to avoid all non-essential travel to Bali and Indonesia.

It is also monitoring the situation in the Philippines after yesterday's bombings. So far, the Department has not advised Irish people to avoid the Philippines.

Roughly 400 Irish people usually travel to Indonesia in October but all have been re-routed to countries like Thailand or Malaysia. The Irish Tourist Agents Association said that it was also advising backpackers on round-the-world air tickets to avoid the country. Meanwhile, police in Malaysia said they believe a Malaysian with bomb-making skills could have been involved in the Bali massacre.

Azahari Husin, a 45-year-old member of Jemaah Islamiyah the militant group widely blamed for Saturday's attack is thought to have fled to Indonesia from Malaysia when authorities there began arresting extremists after the Sept 11 attacks in America.

"Azahari is well trained in all types of bombs, especially remote-controlled explosives. He has experience in handling large amounts of explosives," a senior Malaysian official said yesterday. "(He) is likely to have had a hand about the bombing."