Indonesia steps up hunt for Bali bomb masterminds

INDONESIAN police scrutinised amateur video yesterday that showed a man apparently with a backpack entering a Bali restaurant seconds before one of three suicide blasts that killed as many as 22 people.

The tape, and photos of three severed heads believed to be those of the bombers, were being widely shown by Indonesian media as the country launched a huge manhunt for the masterminds of Saturday's attacks.

Some 200,000 Indonesian police officers were placed on top alert nationwide.

A senior anti-terrorism official said the investigation was focusing on Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida who have been blamed for previous bombings in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

A large contingent of Australian police officers arrived in Bali to join the hunt. Japan also dispatched a police counter-terrorism unit to the resort island.

Chilling video footage released by investigators showed a man in a black shirt and jeans strolling into a restaurant, followed almost instantly by an explosion.

Three separate bombs tore through restaurants packed with Saturday evening diners. The Bali hospital count of the killed was revised downward to 22 from an earlier 27, and the number of wounded to 90 from 122.

Asked yesterday if Jemaah Islamiah militants appeared to be behind the blasts,

Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian counter-terrorism official, said: "Yes, the investigation is moving to that direction."

Jemaah Islamiah has been called the Southeast Asian chapter of Bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

"Outside the three suicide bombers, there is a possibility of another person carrying a trigger," Mr Mbai said. "A suicide bomb is usually detonated by mobile phone remotely by another person from a distance, in case the carriers are in doubt."

Bali hospital officials said on Monday that 16 of the dead had so far been identified 14 Indonesians, one Australian and one Japanese.

Most of the wounded were being treated at nearby Denpasar hospital, while others were flown to Darwin in northern Australia and Singapore.