Jakarta – A prominent ethnic Chinese businessman said yesterday the military intelligence agency had cleared him of involvement with a bomb explosion in Jakarta last week.

Tycoon Sofyan Wanandi said military intelligence investigators had found nothing after an hour of questioning to link him to a bomb blast.

"Today I have come to clarify with the authorities about the documents they found during the investigation of the bombing," said Mr Wanandi, head of the diverse Gemala Group.

"The whole clarification of the whole situation has been accepted by the authorities and that is all they told me today."

His comments followed a meeting at the National Security Co-ordination Agency headquarters in which he repeatedly denied he was connected to the January 18 blast.

The Jakarta Post reported at the weekend that documents naming him had been found at the site of the explosion, a home-made bomb factory the military claims was being used in a plot by the outlawed People's Democratic Party.

"I have never met anyone from the People's Democratic Party, I never got involved with them and I never helped give funding to the party," Mr Wanandi said.

Newspaper reports said an e-mail found in the bombers' apartment mentioned Mr Wanandi, and intellectuals and activists, as having links with the group or supplying it with funds.

Mr Wanandi said he did not know why he had been questioned and declined to comment on suggestions he had been called in because of his high-profile role as the spokesman for Indonesia's Chinese community and a group of Indonesia's richest businessmen.

"It never came up in questioning," he said.

Diplomats were puzzled by Mr Wanandi's summons, saying they suspect it is an attempt to silence the businessman, who regularly speaks on controversial issues in the media.

The blast occurred as the explosives were being handled by bomb-makers in a Jakarta flat, injuring all three. One suspect was detained and two others escaped.

Activist Hendardi was also named in the e-mail but yesterday the director of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association accused the Government and military of orchestrating the bombing plot in a bid to subdue the public amid the country's economic crisis.

"I think its just an arrangement by the Government, an arrangement by the military," he said.

About 70 protesters staged a noisy but peaceful demonstration outside Parliament in Jakarta yesterday, demanding President Suharto retire.