BBC Breakfast October 16, 2002
Bali: the Al Quaeda connection
International investigators have arrived at the scene of the Bali bombing as the hunt intensifies for those responsible for the attack.
The plastic explosive used in the bombing has now been identified as the same as was used in an attack two years ago on an American warship in the Gulf.
The link has increase suspicions that Al Qaeda may have been behind this latest terrorist outrage.
This morning, Breakfast brought you the latest from Bali and beyond.
At 6.10am, we talked to the defence analyst Patrick Garrett, live from Washington.
Police in Bali are interrogating two Indonesians detained after Saturday's massive car bomb attack which killed more than 180 people, most of them young Westerners, on the holiday island.
The two are among dozens picked up but are reportedly attracting particular attention because of discrepancies in their statements and their reluctance to co-operate with investigators.
Indonesia's national police chief, Da'i Bachtiar, said one man had been present when the attack occurred and the other was related to someone whose ID card was found at the blast site in the resort of Kuta.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Indonesian authorities and world leaders have pointed to al-Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups as the likely perpetrators.
In the wake of the attacks, Australia, which suffered the greatest losses, has raised the possibility of resuming military and intelligence ties which it broke off with Indonesia in the 1990s over Jakarta's human rights record.
Australians account for the single largest group of casualties with 30 confirmed dead and 160 missing.
Up to 30 Britons are also feared killed with other victims including citizens of Indonesia, Singapore, the Netherlands, Ecuador, France, Germany and New Zealand.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who on Tuesday visited the site of the main blast, the Sari Club, warned that some of the dead might never be identified.
"There may still be more bodies which, and I'm sorry to put it as crudely as this, but who were very close to where the bomb went off and the bodies have disintegrated."
Copyright © 2002, BBC
