Police send teams to question Hambali<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The police have sent several investigators abroad in a bid to
\ncollect information and, if possible, question terror suspect
\nHambali who was captured in Thailand last week.<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis confirmed
\nhere on Wednesday that investigators had left the country but
\ndeclined to provide further details.<\/p>\n
"What I can say is that they have left the country," he said.<\/p>\n
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar has said that police
\nneeded to have direct access to question Hambali in connection
\nwith a string of terror attacks, including the Aug. 5 bomb blast
\nat the JW Marriot Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people and
\ninjured 149 others.<\/p>\n
"Of course, we need to question him directly," he told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
It was not known where the investigators were headed or their
\nidentities. Sources said that several teams, each led by a senior
\ndetective, had departed for Thailand, the United States and
\nMalaysia respectively.<\/p>\n
Hambali, 39, also known as Riduan Isamuddin, was arrested in
\nThailand last week. The man believed to be an operative of Osama
\nbin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network in Asia has been
\nreportedly under U.S. custody and is still undergoing intensive
\ninterrogation at an undisclosed location in Thailand.<\/p>\n
He was alleged to be the main architect of the Oct. 12, 2002
\nBali blasts that killed 202 people, mostly Australians, and
\ninjured more than 320 others. His Malaysian wife has reportedly
\nbeen detained by Malaysian authorities.<\/p>\n
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng
\nconfirmed the establishment of several investigative teams but
\nthey were yet to depart, pending an order from the government and
\ninformation from the foreign ministry and the justice ministry.<\/p>\n
"We don't know his whereabouts, but we are ready (to carry out
\nthe interrogation)," he told reporters in his office, saying that
\npolice had been exchanging information with ASEAN countries,
\nAustralia, the U.S. and European countries.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, Gen. Da'i said he had been informed about the
\narrest of five other people in Thailand, who were believed to
\nhave links with Hambali.<\/p>\n
"We want to know whether their activities in Thailand are
\nconnected with terrorism in Indonesia," he said, adding that the
\npolice needed to investigate records of telephone calls, e-mails
\nand any other forms of communication used by the suspects.<\/p>\n
Da'i also asserted that the police would verify reports that
\nHambali had transferred US$45,000 to a Malaysian identified as
\nLili to conduct a series of bombings in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"This is the kind of information we expect to get," he
\nremarked.<\/p>\n
Separately, Yunus Husein, the head of the Indonesian antimoney
\nlaundering authority (PPATK), said the Thai Antimoney Laundering
\nOffice (AMLO) had supplied him with the bank statement that
\nindicated the movement of funds involving Hambali.<\/p>\n
"The AMLO managed to detect the money transferred by Hambali
\nto other suspects, which led to his arrest," he said, without
\nelaborating.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-send-teams-to-question-hambali-1447893297",
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