October 16, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 9, 1423

KUTA (Indonesia), Oct 15: Police were on Tuesday questioning two Indonesians over the car bomb attack on the resort island of Bali as an international task force was assembled to hunt down the bombers.

The two detained Indonesians were among 27 people questioned and are not formally considered suspects, but police said they aroused suspicion by refusing to answer questions or giving contradictory answers.

Police spokesman Brigadier General Saleh Saaf said one of the men was in the Kuta area when the bomb exploded near the Sari Club and that he was linked to a man whose identity card was found at the scene.

The other person was related to the owner of the ID card, Saaf said, without explaining what happened to the ID card owner himself.

Most of the victims were Australian, and Justice Minister Chris Ellison said during a visit to Bali that some 40 Australian police officers would join the task force hunting the bombers. He said forensic experts and intelligence agents would be working with the Indonesian authorities as well as police from Britain, Germany, Japan and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“We have forensic experts, people skilled in victim identification and bomb blasts here in Bali,” Ellison said, backing away from earlier Australian criticism of the Indonesian investigation.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer described the attack as “very carefully planned” and said Indonesian investigators believed the Al Qaeda network, possibly working with a local group such as Jemaah Islamiyah, was responsible.

“What I’ve seen today is enough to break anyone’s heart, a simply shocking sight, utterly appalling and it drives home to anybody the evil of terrorism, of mass murder,” Downer said after visiting the site.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday London was considering a ban on Jemaah Islamiyah.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Blair said his government was “urgently” considering proscribing the group under the terrorism act, despite the fact it was not yet certain who carried out Saturday’s bombing.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been criticized for failing to take action to combat the threat of terrorism, and both US and Australian leaders have issued uncompromising warnings to Jakarta since the attack.

Indonesian MP Ade Komaruddin said the government had already consulted lawmakers about an emergency decree allowing for temporary anti-terrorism measures to prevent a new attack.

“We are facing an emergency situation and we have to save this nation,” Komaruddin said, adding that parliament would not oppose the move which could lead to preemptive arrests or detention.

Investigators were still combing the twisted wreckage of the Sari Club in Kuta for clues about the attackers and for traces of victims who literally disintegrated in the huge explosion.—AFP