'Beware of more bomb attacks'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The arrest of JW Marriott Hotel bombing suspects has not automatically made Jakarta a safer place, as the National Police admitted on Tuesday that they have been unable to track down explosives and other bombing devices smuggled into the capital from Semarang.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng confirmed on Tuesday that the bomb that exploded at the Marriott hotel, Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, did not use explosives sent from Semarang.

"To date, (we) haven't found the explosives from Semarang. Therefore, we predict that there could possibly be more bombings (after the Marriott incident)," Erwin told a media conference at the National Police Headquarters, South Jakarta.

The Marriott bombing, which occurred on Aug. 5, claimed the lives of 12 people, mostly taxi drivers and security guards, and injured 147 others.

Erwin said that the bomb that exploded in the hotel driveway had been assembled from the remnants of explosives, including trinitrotoluene (TNT) and black powder, used in a series of bombings on Christmas Eve 2000 across the country that killed a total of 19 people.

"The remnants were stored in Pekanbaru (the capital of Riau), and later transported to a house in Bengkulu belonging to Asmar," Erwin said, referring to Asmar Latin Sani, whose body parts were found in the hotel debris.

Police officially named Asmar and 10 other men as suspects in the Marriott bombing.

Asmar and another executor of the bombing, identified as Tohir, were recruited by Idris, alias "the Fat Man", who was arrested in early June for alleged involvement in the Bali bombings on Oct. 12, 2002, which killed 202 people and wounded 300 others.

As of Tuesday, police had yet to confirm if the Marriott bombing was a suicide bomb. Asmar was believed to be the driver of the van that exploded in the hotel driveway. However, police have yet to work out what was the detailed role of Tohir, who is still at large.

The information denied previous reports that Tohir's body was found at the blast scene.

Police announced early last month that the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) cell in Semarang had transported a number of explosives to Jakarta on two occasions.

The announcement was made following the arrest of nine members of the JI cell and the seizure of over 1,000 detonators and tons of explosives, rifles and ammunition in a nationwide police counterterrorism operation in 11 cities in Java between July 4 and July 11.

Erwin said that the group, of which Asmar was a member, had been planning the Marriott bombing since January.

Six of the suspects, who were arrested between April and June, only confessed to having assisted in the planning and financing of the attack.

Asked if the alleged Marriott bomber group was linked to JI, Erwin replied: "Yes, that is the group in general."

"According to them, as you all already know, their targets are American interests," he added.

He stated "they are not as organized as they used to be."

JI has been blamed for the Bali bombings. Around 30 members of the group are facing terrorism charges at the Denpasar District Court, while one of them, Amrozi, has already been given the death penalty.

The police are currently searching for Malaysians Dr. Azahari and Noor Din Mohd Top, currently at large, for their alleged involvement in the Marriott bombing. Noor Din is said to be the controller of the bombing.

Dr. Azahari, who is also wanted for his alleged involvement in the Bali bombing, is said to have assembled the bomb at Asmar's house in Bengkulu.

It was not known if the bomb was half-made or ready to use.

Police said that the suspects allegedly transported the bomb to Jakarta through Lubuk Linggau, South Sumatra.

Earlier, police also named two men as suspects who allegedly bought the van, used for the Marriott bombing, in Jakarta.

Police are also still looking for an Indonesian, Zulkarnaen, who led the Askar special force, is charged with various bombings, and has been wanted since the Bali bombing.

"They (members of the special force) have undergone training in guerrilla warfare and bomb-making in places like Afghanistan and Moro (in the southern Philippines)," he said.

Erwin also revealed that Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist, Hambali, who is now in U.S.-custody, sent US$45,000 in June to a Malaysian, Lili, who was then in Thailand, to finance a series of bombings in the country.

Lili allegedly handed over the money to Idris, who was arrested in June. The police were still tracing the money, Erwin said.

During the media conference, Erwin also released photos of Dr. Azahari, Noor Din Mohd Top and Tohir. He called on anyone who might recognize them to phone the police on 523444 or 7218309.