Alan Sipress, Jakarta – The Bush administration has warned Indonesian officials that it will withdraw some diplomats from the country unless police step up efforts to investigate a grenade explosion outside of a US building last month, a senior Indonesian security official said today.
Indonesian investigators linked the September 23 blast to a network of Islamic radicals in Indonesia by tracking two of the suspects to a house frequented by other militants, according to Indonesian and Western officials.
The explosion occurred in the early morning in a vehicle in front of an unoccupied US Embassy home now used as a warehouse. Investigators believe that a grenade detonated prematurely. One of the vehicle's four passengers died. The driver was arrested and the others fled.
Indonesian police have made no arrests since then and discounted terrorism as a motive, frustrating US officials. Senior police officials say the attackers were not targeting Americans but had intended to use the grenade in an effort to collect a debt from the owner of a house on the same residential street in the upscale Menteng neighborhood.
To stress American concerns, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commander of the US Pacific Command, called Indonesia's military chief, Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, on Wednesday.
"He discussed with the general the seriousness with which the US government views the threat to American interests and Americans in Indonesia," said Navy Capt. John Singley, spokesman for the command. In particular, he said, Fargo highlighted the danger posed by Jemaah Islamiyah, a group headed by an Indonesian cleric, Abubakar Baasyir, that US and some regional intelligence officials describe as a radical Islamic network operating across Southeast Asia.
The issue of American security concerns was also on the agenda of a meeting at President Megawati Sukarnoputri's home attended by her top national security team, according to the senior Indonesian official.
He said his government has reassured the United States that the investigation is being taken seriously and that Americans are safe in Indonesia. US diplomats have previously praised the Indonesian police for increasing their presence outside the embassy in Jakarta after it closed for six days last month because of warnings of an imminent attack by militants linked to al Qaeda.
By withdrawing diplomats or embassy families, however, the United States would be signaling that it believes Indonesian police are no longer willing or able to protect Americans in a country where there is increasing evidence of al Qaeda operations. Such a move could strain relations between Washington and Jakarta at a time when Indonesian officials have been adopting other measures against international terrorism. Last month they arrested Seyam Reda, a German citizen suspected of links to al Qaeda, and opened an investigation into his activities.
Even as Indonesian security officials speak more openly about the presence of suspected al Qaeda followers in their country, the government has been under political pressure not to move too aggressively against them. Police and military officials say they risk a backlash from some Muslims and nationalists if the authorities are seen as doing Washington's bidding.
US officials in Jakarta and Washington have made no public statements about the grenade investigation. But other Western officials said the police handling of the probe has caused much consternation in the diplomatic community.
In the hours following the blast, National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar announced that his investigators had concluded the passengers in the vehicle intended to throw the grenade at the embassy warehouse. By the next day, Bachtiar and other top police officials offered a different explanation, saying the attackers had been hired to collect a debt of nearly half a million dollars from a businessman, Hasyim Setiono, who lived on the same street. Police officials later announced that they had ruled out terrorism as a motive.
Police questioned the driver of the car and tracked two suspects who fled the scene to a house in Purwakarta, about 70 miles east of the capital, according to sources familiar with the investigation. They said this house had previously provided haven for at least one other Islamic militant.
Engkesman R. Hillep, inspector general of the national police, said findings so far support the debt-collection theory. "Of course we're not going to stop right there," Hillep said. "We'll also continue our investigation into this matter. But as for a connection with terrorism, we're still working on it."