Indonesia hopes severed heads will ID bombers

BALI, Indonesia -- Investigators hunting for the masterminds of three suicide bombings on the popular resort island of Bali hoped to quickly identify the bombers by photographs of their severed heads published Monday in Indonesia's newspapers.\nPolice also sought three accomplices believed to still be on the resort island, and enlisted a former operative of Southeast Asia's top terrorist group to help track down the plotters of Saturday's attack. The blasts killed at least 22 people, including the bombers, and wounded 104.\nThe bombers in the near-simultaneous blasts at three crowded restaurants were believed to have used explosive vests loaded with ball bearings to maximize the damage. Their torsos were blown apart, but their heads were intact, said Indonesian anti-terror official Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai.\nA chilling video capturing a suspected bomber strolling past diners at one of the cafes moments before it was blown up could provide a tremendous boost to the investigation.\nPolice think at least three other people were involved in the attacks and probably are still at large on Bali, Mbai said, adding results could come within days.\nNobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks at two seafood cafes on Jimbaran beach and a restaurant in the bustling tourist center of Kuta, all packed with diners on the busiest night of the week. The bombs went off within six minutes of each other.\nMbai said the alleged masterminds of the blasts were Malaysian fugitives Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top.\nThey have eluded authorities for years, several times slipping through the fingers of Indonesian police who earlier offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to their arrest.\nAzahari and Noordin are alleged to be associated with Jemaah Islamiyah, whose members were convicted in attacks on two crowded nightclubs on Bali three years ago that killed 202 people, and two other deadly terrorist attacks in Indonesia in 2003 and 2004, both in Jakarta.\nAuthorities have enlisted the help of a former Jemaah Islamiyah operative to help track down the masterminds in Saturday's bombings. Nasir Abbas, who has testified against former colleagues in trials, arrived on Bali two hours after the blasts, working as an informant for police.\n"Police are using him to help find which group is behind this operation. Former terrorists can help give details," Mbai said.\nSoutheast Asian intelligence officials have repeatedly warned that the group could attempt a major terrorist attack in the region and, fearing more strikes, are clamping down.\nThailand, which draws millions of sun-seeking tourists every year, put all of its major resort areas on full alert Monday after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra warned that terrorists "are commuting and rotating around in the region."\nIndonesia, the Philippines and Australia were also on heightened alert.\n"If the past is any precedent, they have planned safe houses and are lying low, letting the first dragnet pass overhead," said Ken Conboy, a Jakarta-based security consultant and author of an upcoming book on terrorism in Southeast Asia.\nDeath tolls varied because the blasts dismembered the bodies, making them hard to count.\nSanglah, the main hospital treating the victims, posted a death toll of 29 on a bulletin board. A police spokesman, Maj. Gen. Aryanto Budihardjo, told reporters in the capital that 22 had been killed, including the three bombers.\nFourteen Indonesians, two Australians and one Japanese man were among the dead. Officials were trying to identify the nationalities of the other corpses.\nThe 104 wounded included 49 Indonesians, 17 Australians, six Americans, six Koreans and four Japanese, officials said.