Atrium plaza bomber Malaysian: KL ministry
Atrium plaza bomber Malaysian: KL ministry
JAKARTA (JP): The police were not sure about the nationality
of a man allegedly involved in the recent bombing of the Atrium
shopping mall in Central Jakarta, but the Malaysian foreign
ministry confirmed on Monday that he is a Malaysian citizen.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the 26-year-old man --
known here as "Dodi" -- was identified as Taufik Abdul Halim, who
is from the southern state of Johor and is an architecture
graduate from a government-run higher-learning institute.
"He is now under the custody of Indonesian authorities and is
subjected to Indonesian law. Indonesia has the legal right to
take any further action," Syed Hamid was quoted as saying, by the
Bernama news agency.
He said Taufik, along with nine others, were part of a group
waging a jihad, or Muslim holy war, in Indonesia and were
believed to be planning similar activities in Malaysia upon
returning home.
It was not clear if the rest of the group are also Malaysians.
"This group is fanatically religious. They went there to wage
a jihad and for the government, this is not right according to
the law and to Islam," Syed Hamid added as reported by AFP.
Separately, city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam
said that the man, identified earlier only as Dodi might be a
Malaysian citizen.
"He always gave conflicting testimonies," Anton told reporters
on Monday.
He said that Dodi had earlier confessed that he was a resident
of Jl. Kebagusan Kecil, South Jakarta, which turned out to be a
fake address.
Dodi, whose left leg was amputated after the blast rocked
Atrium Plaza, Senen area, Central Jakarta on Aug. 1, then
admitted that he lived with his friends in Bekasi, eastern
Jakarta, Anton said.
"So he might be a Malaysian. We will cooperate with Interpol
about it," he said.
He took the view that Dodi's activities might be related with
the jihad as it was reported by the Malaysian media.
He reiterated that the bombing in the mall might have been
related to the blasts in Santa Ana church and the HKBP Batak
Protestant Christian Church in East Jakarta.
At least six people were injured when the bomb exploded in the
plaza. Three of them, including Dodi, are still being treated at
Kramat Jati police hospital.
The Malaysian authorities claimed that Taufik, alias Dodi, was
a member of the radical Malaysia Mujahidin Group (KMM), which was
alleged to be aiming to topple the government of Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad and attack non-Muslims.
The group, which has about 50 members, was believed to be
related to the Taliban in Afghanistan or had fought with
Mujahidin forces, Malaysian police said. (jun)