Bali bombs exploded prematurely, suspect says<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
Ali Imron, a suspect in last year's Bali blasts, told
\ninvestigators that the bombs used in the devastating attacks
\nexploded before they were supposed to, police said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the police inquiry team Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis
\nsaid Imron claimed a bomb went off first near the United States
\nconsulate in Denpasar's Renon district, triggered by a mobile
\nphone.<\/p>\n
The blast was followed by the explosion of the other two bombs
\nfor unclear reasons before the bombers were ready to detonate
\nthem at Paddy's Cafe and the Sari Club on Jl. Legian in Bali's
\nKuta tourist strip, Zainuri said, quoting Imron's confession.<\/p>\n
\"All (the bombers) were surprised because the three bombs
\nexploded almost simultaneously. When the Renon blast was set off
\nfirst with a cellular phone, why did the other two bombs also
\nexplode almost simultaneously,\" he said referring to Imron's
\nconfession.<\/p>\n
Imron, a younger brother of two other key detained suspects,
\nAmrozi and Ali Ghufron alias Mukhlas, claimed the three bombs
\nwere controlled with different cellular phones and should have
\ngone off at different times.<\/p>\n
The suspect and Zainuri could not explain when the bombs were
\nsupposed to have exploded as it was the other two suspects, Dul
\nMatin and Idris -- who remain at large -- who were allegedly
\ntasked with setting them off.<\/p>\n
It was not clear whether the premature blasts caused the death
\nof another suspect at Paddy's, Iqbal, who was suspected of being
\na suicide bomber in the Bali explosions.<\/p>\n
Imron was the latest suspect to be arrested in connection with
\nthe Oct. 12 blasts that killed over 190 people and injured some
\n300 others, mostly Westerners.<\/p>\n
He was captured on the remote island of Barukang in East
\nKalimantan province and flown to the Bali capital of Denpasar on
\nThursday for questioning.<\/p>\n
However, Imron's version of events contradicted what has been
\nrevealed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who are
\nassisting with the Indonesian police investigation.<\/p>\n
The AFP has said the Paddy's Cafe bomb went off first, at
\nabout 11:15 pm local time, followed within 10 to 15 seconds by
\nthe Sari Club blast, and then 45-60 seconds later by the Renon
\nblast, which caused no casualties.<\/p>\n
Zainuri said Imron told the investigators that the main bomb
\nwas made at a house in Bali and then put in something resembling
\na filing cabinet inside the L-300 van which exploded outside the
\nSari Club.<\/p>\n
On Friday, 10 AFP officers along with their Indonesian
\ncounterparts examined clothing and dust in a ground-floor unit in
\nthe house which was rented by the alleged bombing mastermind,
\nImam Samudra.<\/p>\n
At the same house located on Jl. Pulau Pinang 18, Samudra led
\na meeting with Idris, Dul Matin, Mukhlas, Amrozi, Imron, Mubarok
\nand Hambali before the bombers set off the bombs, Zainuri said.<\/p>\n
He said Imron admitted that the bombs were made from chemicals
\nthat Amrozi had bought at the Tidal chemical shop in the East
\nJava capital of Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Imron said the suspected bombers had experimented by setting
\noff a small blast in the rented house.<\/p>\n
The alleged driver of the L-300 van that carried the bomb-
\nmaking materials from his hometown of Lamongan in East Java to
\nBali, Imron said he went to a nearby mosque to pray and felt
\nhappy minutes after the bombs devastated the Sari Club and
\nPaddy's.<\/p>\n
\"According to Ali Imron's confession, as soon as he heard the
\nexplosions he went directly to the al-Ghurobah mosque and
\nprayed,\" Zainuri said.<\/p>\n
\"When asked how he felt, he said he was happy,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The bomb attacks on one of the world's most popular resort
\nislands have been blamed on Jamaah Islamiyah, a clandestine
\nterror network that has cells across Southeast Asia and is
\nbelieved to be linked to Osama bid Laden's al-Qaeda group.<\/p>\n
However, the police say they have found no evidence of links
\nbetween the Bali bombers and al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
The first trials for the 17 detained suspects are expected to
\nstart in February in Bali, police say. The defendants will likely
\nface death sentences under an antiterrorism regulation approved
\nlast year by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bali-bombs-exploded-prematurely-suspect-says-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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