Indonesian police post US$10,000 reward for Bali bombers information

Police offered a US$10,000 reward Monday for information about the three suicide bombers who launched terror strikes on the tourist island of Bali earlier this month.

Police have so far announced no big breaks in the investigation into the Oct. 1 near simultaneous attacks on three crowded restaurants, which haв killув 20 people.

They say identifying the bombers could help them track down the suspected masterminds Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top alleged key figures in the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

The Malaysian fugitives also have been blamed for a 2002 bombing that killed 202 mostly foreign tourists on the same resort island and two other attacks in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Detective chief Lt. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara said Monday's reward offer coincided with the distribution of 100,000 new copies of grisly pictures of bombers' severed heads, bruised and swollen but easily recognizable.

"We hope these (pictures) can help people to identify them, and we allot 100 million rupiah (US$10,000, Ђ8,700) for those who provide information about the three," Makbul said.

He said a separate one billion rupiah (US$100,000, Ђ83,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of Azahari and Noordin also remains valid.

"This is aimed at facilitating the investigation into the Bali bombings," Makbul said.

Makbul said police have already distributed a total of 300,000 photographs of the suspected suicide bombers along with pictures of Azahari and Noordin.

The two Malaysians have eluded capture for years, moving constantly in densely populated areas of this sprawling nation of 220 million people and more than 10,000 islands.

Earlier this month, police claimed Noordin escaped hours before a pre-dawn raid on his hideout in central Java province, reports the AP.

P.T.