Bali bombing suspect 'admits role'

Police said today that a man in custody has admitted to taking part in the bombing of a nightclub in Bali that killed nearly 200 people last month.

Indonesia's national police chief Da'i Bachtiar said the suspect, identified only as Amrozi, was the owner of the Mitsubishi minivan used in the attack on October 12 and had "used the vehicle to carry out the bombing."

"He (Amrozi) has disclosed many things and admitted his acts in Bali," Mr Bachtiar said. "Therefore we are pursuing his companions."

He did not elaborate. But other officers said the manhunt was focusing on the eastern part of Indonesia's dominant island of Java, which is next to Bali.

Confusion surrounded the development. At first it appeared the police had said Amrozi, who remains in custody, had admitted to planting one of the bombs. Mr Bachtiar's ambiguous statement left that unclear.

Brig Gen Edward Aritonang, spokesman for a team of international investigators, said earlier that Amrozi was detained in East Java province on Tuesday and then flown to Bali.

"The investigation team is still questioning him. There are many things that have to be cross-checked and be studied thoroughly," he said.

According to a local television report, Amrozi was arrested at an Islamic boarding school in the town of Tenggulun. The head of the school, Dzakaria, said in a television interview that Amrozi also attended a speech at the school by radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Amrozi "sometimes came to my school to conduct prayer with us," said Dzakaria, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name. "He was not a student here."

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the Bali blasts, the regional militant Islamic network Jemaah Islamiyah has emerged as the prime suspect.

Police recently arrested Mr Bashir, Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged spiritual leader, on charges of involvement in a string of church bombings three years ago. He has not been listed officially as a suspect in the Bali attack.

The 64-year-old, said to be too ill to be quizzed, was being held in a police hospital in Jakarta. He has denied any links with terrorists. Authorities have detained and questioned at least 20 people over the past two weeks because they resembled sketches of three suspects released by police. Almost all were released without charges. Yesterday police issued the sketch of a fourth suspect.

About 120 detectives and intelligence officers from Australia, the United States, Britain, Japan and other countries have been working on the case with Indonesian investigators.