Bali police to release bomber sketches

Police investigating the nightclub bombing that killed almost 200 people on the resort island of Bali were today working on sketches of possible suspects.

And they confirmed that the attack bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Muslim militant group accused of ties to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida.

Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for a string of terror bombings in Southeast Asia in recent years. Police revelations that ammonium nitrate was used in the Bali bombing reinforced suspicions the group was involved.

The group is known to have acquired at least four tons of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural chemical that can be made into powerful bombs.

The group’s alleged spiritual Abu Bakar Bashir, 64, is in hospital with respiratory problems. He is not a suspect in the Bali bombings, but was arrested last week on suspicion of involvement in several church bombings in 2000 that killed 19 people, and in a plot to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Meanwhile, the Queen’s representative in Australia toured the blast site and said he hoped the tragedy would bring Jakarta and Canberra closer together.

“If there is any good that comes out of this, the good would have to be the cementing of a new and closer relationship between Indonesia and Australia,” said Governor-General Peter Hollingworth.

Megawati will call for international help in the fight against terrorism at this week’s meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation in Mexico, a spokesman said today.

“This Apec meeting will give Indonesia a chance to share with other countries the tragedy that took place in Bali and what attempts Indonesia has made to capture the perpetrators,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.