Australia name people smuggler

Australia had identified and passed to Indonesian authorities the name of the people smuggler believed to be behind the ill-fated boat which sank last week off the coast of Java immigration minister Philip Ruddock said today.

370 asylum seekers were drowned in the tragedy.

‘‘We know the name of the person who was involved,’’ Ruddock told Australian radio.

‘‘We’ve passed it on to Indonesia already on a number of occasions and he’s one of the people we’ve sought, he’s an Egyptian by background and he’s been trafficking before.’’