DNA tests confirm Iqbal died in Bali blast
DNA tests confirm Iqbal died in Bali blast
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
DNA tests conducted in Australia have confirmed that suspected
suicide bomber Iqbal died in the devastating Bali bombings that
killed more than 190 people and injured some 300 others, mostly
foreigners, last October.
Based on the tests, which were carried out by the Australian
Federal Police laboratories in Canberra, Iqbal died in the blast
in Paddy's Cafe, DPA reported, quoting Australia's Sunday
Telegraph newspaper.
This could make him Southeast Asia's first suicide bomber,
although it may prove impossible to confirm that Iqbal
deliberately killed himself by detonating the bomb inside Paddy's
on Kuta's entertainment strip.
Authorities found only scant remains of Iqbal's body in the
pub.
Police investigating the deadly Bali bomb attacks have said it
was not clear whether Iqbal was a suicide bomber or whether he
died when the bomb exploded prematurely.
Meanwhile, a man suspected to have been involved in the Bali
blasts has been arrested by police in Seruyan regency, Central
Kalimantan, Antara reported on Saturday.
The man, said to be Ali Imron, a younger brother of detained
prime suspect Amrozi, was reportedly captured last Wednesday in
Kuala Pembuang, the capital of Seruyan.
A member of the police team investigating the Bali bombings
confirmed the arrest of another suspect in Kuala Pembuang, but
declined to give details.
However, Central Kalimantan Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr.
Hariyanto flatly denied the reported arrest.
"It is not true that there was a Bali bomb suspect arrested in
Kuala Pembuang. I have verified this report with the local
police," he told Antara.
The police are holding 15 out of at least 21 men named as
suspects in the savage attacks, and are tracking down the
remaining six, including Ali Imron and Dul Matin, one of the
alleged bomb makers.
Those being detained in Bali Police Headquarters include Imam
Samudra, the alleged mastermind behind the blasts, and Amrozi.
The investigators have linked the tragedy to the Jamaah
Islamiyah regional terror network, which foreign security
officials say has ties with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, the group
blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United
States.