Bomb suspect denies links to GAM
Bomb suspect denies links to GAM
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Syahrul, one of five suspects accused of planting a bomb in
the Graha Cijantung mall in East Jakarta in which eight people
were injured earlier this month, claims he has no links to the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
"I'm not a GAM member. I only know a little bit about Ramli
(another suspect). He is a deserter from the Army," Syahrul told
reporters before police questioning at the City Police's
headquarters on Tuesday.
Syahrul and four other suspects, identified as Atom, Ahmad,
Mudawali and Irsyadi, alias Bambang, were arrested by police last
week.
Another man, Abdullah, who is Bambang's driver, is being
questioned as a witness. All of the men are said to come from the
restive province of Aceh.
Syahrul claimed he met Ramli five months ago at a meeting of
Acehnese people living in Jakarta.
It was Ramli who asked him to keep the ammunition and
firearms, he said.
Upon the arrest of the suspects at a rented house in Tapos
village, Cimanggis Depok, police also found several grenades,
homemade bombs, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, more than 160
magazines, several detonators, a pack of marijuana, Rp 50 million
(US$5,555) in cash and some military-style uniforms.
Syahrul said he did not report the presence of the firearms
and ammunition in his rented house to the police because he and
his family had been threatened.
"I didn't report it for the sake of my children. Otherwise, I
would be shot to death," said the thin and curly-haired suspect.
Bombarded with questions from reporters, Syahrul said that all
of the firearms and ammunition came from the military.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu claimed the attack
on Graha Cijantung, which is located close to the Army Special
Force (Kopassus) headquarters on Jl. Raya Bogor, East Jakarta,
was a ploy by an armed group which aimed to tarnish military
personnel operating in conflict zones, including Papua, Maluku,
and Aceh.
Ryamizard said that those groups operating in the conflict-
ravaged regions had ammunition and guns.
"But, the important thing is that we have been informed about
their networks in Jakarta," he said.
Commenting on the ammunition and firearms confiscated by the
police, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam
admitted the weapons and guns were similar to those made by
state-owned weapons producer PT Pindad, in Bandung, West Java.
Anton said police planned to trace the origins of the
weaponry.
"We will find out whether or not the ammunition was produced
by Pindad and we want to know to whom the ammunition has been
sold," Anton said.
"Police are still hunting down seven other suspects,
Jalalluddin, Ramli, Zulkarnaen, Faisal, Bakrie, Jalil, and Fikri
who are still at large," Anton said.
Police would also release a copy of Ramli's picture to the
public, Anton said, adding that the police believed that Ramli
was the mastermind of the bomb attack.
"It is Ramli who has contacted all the suspects for a briefing
at a food stall to plot the attack," said Anton.
Ramli was also a suspect in the aborted bomb attack at Plaza
Atrium in Senen, Central Jakarta. The explosion injured six
people, including Taufik bin Abdullah Halim, a Malaysian who --
according to the police -- planted the bomb.
Police said that before the bomb attack the suspects met at a
food stall behind Ramayana shopping center in Cibinong, Bogor at
2 p.m. Four hours later they departed for Graha Cijantung in a
gray (Toyota) Kijang van to plant the bomb, which exploded at
7:20 p.m.
"That's what the suspects have admitted. We will continue to
seek further details during the next questioning," Anton said.