Amrozi, mechanic turned terror suspect

Terror suspect Amrozi is seen playing with his son in this undated photo (above). The police have named Amrozi, arrested in Lamongan, East Java, on Tuesday, a prime suspect in the deadly Bali bombing. But who is Amrozi?

His neighbors in Tenggulun village in Selopuro district, Lamongan, know the 30 year old as a mechanic who runs a motorbike repair shop and sometimes sells used cars and cell phones to make a living.

People often asked him to install an additional antenna on their cell phones because the cellular signal is low in his village.

Police say one of the bombs detonated in Bali on Oct. 12 was triggered by a mobile phone switched to vibrating mode, but it is not yet known whether Amrozi played a role in this part of the incident.

Muhammad Zakaria of the Al-Islam boarding school in Lamongan describes Amrozi as a sociable person who holds no radical views of Islam.

Amrozi was not a student at Al-Islam, but often visited it to pray or listen to sermons, including two graduation sermons delivered by detained terrorism suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on June 16, 2001 and June 17, 2002. However, he apparently never met the Muslim cleric.

Amrozi divorced his first wife and reportedly married another woman. His first wife, Astuti, complained that he spent most of him time with friends and was rarely at home.

1990: Amrozi went to Malaysia to work in the construction sector.

1993: Amrozi's older brother, Khozin, established Al-Islam boarding school and assigned Muhammad Zakaria as head of the school. Zakaria is a 1992 alumni of Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Surakarta, Central Java, which was founded by Ba'asyir.

1997: Amrozi paid a short visit to Lamongan and returned to Malaysia.

2000: Amrozi was seen again in Lamongan but reportedly left his house for a long period of time.

Oct. 12, 2002: Amrozi was apparently watching TV at his house along with a Lamongan forest ranger named Kamar.

Nov. 5, 2002: Amrozi was arrested in Paciran village in Lamongan regency, East Java, as the last owner of the Mitsubishi L-300 van that was used in the blast.

Nov. 7, 2002: Amrozi was taken to Bali for further questioning. Police announced that Amrozi had admitted to being the field coordinator of the group that carried out the Bali bombings. --JP