Alleged JI leader named in bombings

JAKARTA: Police have named Abu Rusdan, who reportedly replaced Abu Bakar Ba'asyir as supreme leader of regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), as a suspect in the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.

Police named Rusdan a suspect after police investigators found that he was aware of the whereabouts of suspects in the Bali bombings, but had failed to report them to the police.

One of Rusdan's team of lawyers, Achmad Mihdan, revealed that police alleged Rusdan had concealed suspects from the Bali bombings, but Mihdan said police did not refer to any of the suspects.

According to Mihdan, Rusdan would immediately be transferred to the National Police detention center in South Jakarta from detention at the Mobile Brigade detention center, Kelapa Dua, Depok.

Police arrested Rusdan early last month in Kudus, Central Java. --JP