Ba'asyir blessed Bali bombing: Da'i<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Tuesday that Abu
\nBakar Ba'asyir knew and endorsed the Oct. 12 Bali bombing that
\nkilled over 190 people and injured some 300 others.<\/p>\n
Da'i's statement was the first direct reference to the
\ncleric's involvement in the Bali blasts, the biggest attacks
\nsince Sept. 11, 2001, when suicide terrorists dove passenger
\nairplanes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New
\nYork City, killing over 3,000 people.<\/p>\n
The police chief said that investigators arrived at the
\nconclusion after interrogating suspects of the bombing.<\/p>\n
Investigators have arrested a total of 29 suspects in the
\ncase, all of them currently in detention at Bali Police
\nheadquarters in Denpasar. Ten people, including three Malaysians,
\nare on the wanted list.<\/p>\n
"The jihad (holy war) operation is reported to have been
\nblessed by the Jamaah Islamiyah leader, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir," Da'i
\nsaid in a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission I
\nfor defense and security affairs here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Da'i, however, did not immediately say that Ba'asyir had
\nalready been declared a suspect in the terror attacks, nor did he
\ncomment on the implications of Ba'asyir's blessing the attacks.
\nHe simply said that his staff were developing and working on the
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir, 64, is currently under police custody on treason
\ncharges. He has been accused of plotting to assassinate President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri when she was still vice president, and of
\nmasterminding a string of church bombings on Christmas Eve in
\n2000.<\/p>\n
Until Tuesday, police had not linked Ba'asyir to the Bali
\nblasts. The Muslim cleric has denied any wrongdoings and any
\nknowledge of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) or its operations.<\/p>\n
Da'i said that JI, a regional terrorist network, was behind
\nthe Bali bombing, which was apparently planned during a meeting
\nin Bangkok in mid-February 2002. The operation targeted the
\ninterests of the U.S. and its allies in Singapore and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
This eventually resulted in targeting and bombing two
\nnightclubs on the resort island of Bali, which explosion killed
\nmainly foreign tourists, but also many Indonesian nationals.<\/p>\n
Da'i also disclosed that JI leader Ridwan Isamuddin, alias
\nHambali, financed the operation with up to US$35,500 in funds
\ndirectly transferred to Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, one of the
\nkey suspects in the Bali bombing.<\/p>\n
The United States and other countries have linked JI, which
\naims to create a pan-Southeast Asian Islamic state, to Osama bin
\nLaden's al-Qaeda network. The United Nations put JI on the list
\nof terrorist groups late last year.<\/p>\n
Da'i said police found residues of both TNT and the military
\nexplosive RDX at both the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar blast sites,
\nbut still could not identify the type of bombs used.<\/p>\n
"Once the bomb-maker is arrested, we will then carry out new
\ntests," Da'i said.<\/p>\n
Police said Monday they were hunting a man called Dulmatin,
\nwhom they say was the maker of the bombs used in Bali as well as
\nin other Indonesian cities.<\/p>\n
There were speculations in the beginning of the investigation
\nthat the bomb was composed of plastic explosive C4. This
\nspeculation was based on the magnitude of the mushroom cloud
\nresulting from the blasts. During the investigation, however,
\npolice investigators found that a "ball of fire" had resulted
\nfrom cars that had exploded in the blasts.<\/p>\n
Police investigators submitted the dossier of Amrozi, the
\nfirst key suspect detained by police, to state prosecutors, but
\nthe file was returned as it was deemed incomplete.<\/p>\n
"The dossier is being improved and is going to be presented to
\nstate prosecutors no later than Feb. 2, 2003," said Da'i, adding
\nthat police investigators were preparing the case files of other
\nkey suspects, including Abdul Aziz, alias Imam Samudra, and
\nMukhlas.<\/p>",
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