Indonesia suspects held for poison plot

The 16 suspects were arrested over the past three days in the capital,Jakarta,and other locations based on confessions from people captured in Central Sulawesi after two police officers were slain last month,said Col Boy Rafli Amar,a national police spokesman.

There is suspicion that they have plotted to attack policemen,but in a different ways,including by using cyanide, Amar told reporters. Amar said the group planned to spread cyanide in police dormitories and canteens. Bottled water was also to be used as a delivery method,he said. In a live television interview,Amar said the police also confiscated pen guns along with cyanide in a raid in the capital.

An investigation is under way to find out whether the pen guns are their own innovation or being supplied by other parties,Amar said. The police have been at the forefront of Indonesias campaign against terrorism since the al-Qaeda-linked nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002. Attacks in recent months have targeted the police themselves.