Police say no terrorist link to Riau blast<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After five days of intensive investigations and the involvement
\nof the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the police
\nannounced on Saturday that the Pekanbaru blast was not a
\nterrorist outrage but a purely criminal act.<\/p>\n
The announcement came after police investigators declared
\nthree persons as suspects in the blast that killed two persons
\nand seriously injured four others last Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The three suspects were identified as Along, Along's brother-
\nin-law Aliong, and another unidentified man who is still at
\nlarge.<\/p>\n
Riau police chief Brig. Gen. Deddy S. Komaruddin said on
\nSaturday that the motive behind the blast was insurance fraud.<\/p>\n
According to Deddy, Along had an outstanding debt of Rp 350
\nmillion to an unidentified third party. Irritated by repeated
\ndemands to pay the debts, Along and Aliong decided to destroy the
\ngoods stored in the shophouse, which were all insured.<\/p>\n
\"They have outstanding debts and thus came up with this scam,
\nhoping that they would be able to claim for the goods on the
\ninsurance policy,\" Deddy was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
The two then hired a suspect identified as B, who is still at
\nlarge, to destroy the goods. \"They held meetings twice, once on
\nFriday (April 30) at Aliong's house and the other on the night of
\nthe event at a certain place,\" Deddy said.<\/p>\n
The suspect B, who was paid Rp 6 million for his part in the
\nalleged scam, later asked Irwanto to carry out the act. \"The
\nmoney has been paid to the suspect (B),\" the police said.<\/p>\n
\"Clearly the blast was not a terrorist act. It was purely a
\ncriminal act,\" Deddy said.<\/p>\n
Along and Irwanto are still being treated at the Pekanbaru
\nPolice Hospital, while Aliong is in police custody.<\/p>\n
However, several aspects of the case were still unclear, such
\nas the explosives used in the bombing, which police previously
\nidentified as the high explosive RDX nitrate, the type usually
\nused in terrorist attacks across the country since 2000. The
\npolice called in the FBI to help them determine the type of
\nexplosives used.<\/p>\n
Another curious aspect was the fact that the bomb went off
\nonly a few hours before the Pekanbaru District Court began the
\ntrial of a man charged with the Christmas 2000 bombing of a Riau
\nchurch.<\/p>\n
Deddy said the police were still trying to positively identify
\nthe type of explosive used in the bombing.<\/p>\n
\"We need more time to examine the explosive and our team is
\nstill investigating where they got the explosive from,\" Deddy
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Earlier, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar left open
\nthe possibility that the bombing was connected with other
\nbombings across the nation, such as the 2002 Bali bombings that
\nkilled more than 200 people, and the JW Marriott blast last year
\nin Jakarta, which left 12 people dead.<\/p>",
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