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Laptop with codes found in Indonesia blast

JAKARTA, July 19 (UPI) -- Indonesian police have recovered a computer that may be linked to a suicide bomber in the explosion at the Jakarta Ritz Carlton, authorities said.

Near-simultaneous attacks on the Ritz Carlton and the JW Marriott Friday killed nine people and injured 53 others.

The laptop computer found in a room at the Ritz contained information and codes the bombers may have used to communicate, police spokesman Chryshnanda Dwi Laksana told Indonesia's Antara news agency.

JW Marriott Security Supervisor Didik Ahmad Taufik told police he encountered one of the suspects minutes before the explosion.

The man, in his mid to late 20s, had an Indonesian accent and was carrying a backpack and pulling a suitcase. The man told Didik he was meeting his boss. Didik said he assigned a guard to accompany the man and the explosion occurred just minutes later.

The man was a hotel guest who apparently assembled the bomb inside his hotel room, Didik said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government Sunday intensified efforts to find fugitive Malaysian-born extremist Noordin M Top, who is suspected in the bombings.

Friday's bombings were similar to those masterminded by Top in Bali several years ago, police said.

Forest fire spreads east of Vancouver

KELOWNA, British Columbia, July 19 (UPI) -- A rapidly spreading fire east of Vancouver, British Columbia, has burned at least nine homes and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people, officials said.

Spurred by dry conditions, fierce winds and hot weather, the Kelowna fire had the potential to be worse than a 2003 fire that destroyed more than 200 homes in the region, Forests Minister Pat Bell told the Vancouver Sun in a story published Sunday.

The fire jumped a highway and began moving east toward Okanagan Lake, about 230 miles east of Vancouver. By Saturday night, the fire had consumed an estimated 745 acres, The (Vancouver) Province reported Sunday.

Not everyone obeyed Saturday's order to evacuate, The Province reported.

With embers falling around him, Gellatly Bay resident Steve Smith said he chose to stay with his uninsured home so he could hose down the roof.

"I live right by the lake; if I see anything coming close, I'll go away in my boat," Smith said.

Terrorism interrogation unit considered

WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- A task force of the U.S. Justice Department may propose a new specialized interrogation unit for future high-value terrorism suspects, authorities said.

The unit would likely question suspects for intelligence information rather than for evidence to be used against them in criminal cases, Justice Department sources told the Washington Post in a story published Sunday.

The task force, led by a federal prosecutor experienced in national security issues, was formed in January after President Barack Obama ordered an interagency review of interrogation policy, the Post reported.

The task force is expected this week to recommend whether interrogation

guidelines in the Army Field Manual are sufficient for agencies, such as the CIA, which capture and question suspects outside the United States, sources said. The Obama administration already has banned the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding.

It was not clear under what agency the new interrogation unit would operate, although it probably would not be the CIA, sources told the Post.

Source: One killed in Baghdad explosion

BAGHDAD, July 19 (UPI) -- A civilian was killed Sunday when an explosive device detonated in western Baghdad, an Iraqi police source says.

The unidentified source told the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA the blast in the Abu Ghraib district injured two others, and caused damage to shops and vehicles in the area.

The identities of the victims, the condition of those hospitalized and additional details about the deadly explosion were not reported.