Police release man resembling Bali bomb suspect

Authorities in Indonesia have released a man arrested two days ago for his resemblance to the composite sketch of a suspect in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed nearly 200 people including around 30 Britons, a police spokesman said today.

The man, identified only by the initials R.S., was detained on Thursday at a bus terminal in the town of Bajawa on Flores island, about 310 miles east of Bali. He was flown to Denpasar, the capital of Bali, on Friday and released last night.

“He is not the man we are looking for,” said Police Brigadier General Edward Aritonang, adding that police had taken his fingerprints and checked his alibis.

Last week, police launched a nationwide manhunt for those behind the October 12 bombings after releasing three sketches of suspects. So far the search has focused on the islands east of Bali and on Indonesia’s main island of Java, they said.

Meanwhile, police are set to question for the second time the alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamic group that is emerging as a prime suspect in the attack. The Muslim cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, refused to answer questions on yesterday.

Since his arrest on October 18, Bashir, 64, has been receiving hospital treatment for what he says is a respiratory ailment. Police are trying to question him about a separate string of bombings on churches in December 2000 and about an alleged plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri. He has not been implicated in the Bali blasts.

Indonesian defence minister Matori Abdul Jalil has accused the al-Qaida terror network of being involved in the bombings.

Neighbouring Australia and other countries have identified Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida-linked organisation, as the likely culprit.

Indonesian authorities have largely refrained from cracking down on Muslim militants, fearing a backlash. Bashir’s arrest has prompted angry protests from Islamic radicals.