Palopo blast aimed for 'jihad'<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A bomb attack on a cafe in the town of Palopo, South Sulawesi,
\nwas part of a jihad (holy war) against vice in nightclubs and
\nbars, a key suspect was quoted on Monday by the provincial police
\nas saying.<\/p>\n
"That's our preliminary conclusion based on the confession by
\nkey suspect Jasmin who was captured yesterday (Sunday)," South
\nSulawesi Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Andi Nurman Thahir told
\nAntara.<\/p>\n
He said Jasmin alias Jamir alias Yamming told investigators
\nthat he objected to rampant "sinful activities" in nightclubs and
\nbars, such as prostitution.<\/p>\n
Nurman said Jasmin confessed to having bombed the Sampoddo
\nIndah Cafe in Palopo on Jan. 10, killing four people and
\nseriously injuring three others.<\/p>\n
The prime suspect admitted that he and his accomplice Ahmad,
\nwho is still at large, assembled the bomb and put it under Table
\nNo. 11 in the cafe minutes before it exploded at 10:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Jasmin also mentioned the name of Andi Oddang, who allegedly
\nplayed a role in the blast, Nurman said, adding that the police
\nwere currently hunting Oddang<\/p>\n
Nurman said the police were interrogating Jasmin to determine
\nif Agung Abdul Hamid, the alleged mastermind of the Dec. 5, 2002,
\nbombing in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, had been
\ninvolved in the Palopo attack.<\/p>\n
Agung, who remains at large since the Makassar blast, which
\nkilled three people, was seen by another suspect in the Jan. 10
\nblast, Arman, eating together at a restaurant in Palopo several
\ndays after the incident, investigators said.<\/p>\n
Jasmin was arrested at Noling village in Bupong subdistrict,
\nLuwu regency, on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
The police seized several items of evidence from Jasmin,
\nincluding an FN gun, four traditional Papporo weapons, a sack of
\nammonium nitrate and pipes.<\/p>\n
Jasmin's elder brother, Jasman, was also arrested for
\nallegedly harboring the key suspect, who is one of seven people
\nbeing detained over the Palopo blast.<\/p>\n
The police are now searching for seven other suspects who
\ndisappeared after the attack -- Munir, Aswandi alias Aco bin
\nKasim, Ishak, Nirwan, Andi Oddang, Ahmad and Agung Abdul Hamid.<\/p>\n
Nurman said the police had not yet established which group the
\n14 suspects belonged to, but said they had once participated in a
\ntraining camp run by the hard-line Laskar Jihad group in Poso
\nregency, Central Sulawesi.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/palopo-blast-aimed-for-jihad-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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