Eight named suspects in bombings

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested eight suspects in connection with the Christmas eve bomb attacks, but reiterated the absence of clues that could lead to the Army's involvement.

National Police deputy chief of detectives Brig. Gen. Sudirman Ail said on Tuesday two of the primary suspects were captured earlier in the day in Brebes, the Central Java town which borders West Java.

As have top officials at the National Police and its forensics laboratory, Sudirman repeatedly dismissed the role of the Army in the bombings that left 19 people dead, despite strong evidence that at least one of the suspects arrested has clear links with the Army.

"We have no evidence to date that the military is involved in the bombings," Sudirman told reporters in a media conference on the latest progress in the case at the National Police Detectives building on Tuesday.

National Police chief of detectives Insp. Gen. Engkesman Hillep also attended the conference, but left early due to an urgent meeting.

Quoting an official police report, sources have said that of the eight suspects, three, identified only as ES, LI and F, were arrested on Jan. 11 in North Sumatra.

The source said that ES had told police officers he learned to make bombs "during his experience working with a certain division of the Army, for a period of over five years in Aceh."

"He has confessed to having made the 14 bombs which did not explode. At first he told police that he only made seven, but upon further interrogation he admitted to having made all 14."

Separately, North Sumatra police chief of detectives High Comr. Iskandar Hasan confirmed that ES had confessed to making the 14 bombs, and had received Rp 160 million for the job.

Quoting what ES told police investigators, Iskandar said that upon being pressured by an unidentified member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), ES agreed to receive an order for the bombs from another suspect still at large, identified as PO.

"ES received Rp 160 million to assemble the bombs. We have confiscated Rp 159 million from ES as evidence ... the military however, is not (involved). ES was himself a very good mechanic ... we are still investigating from where he learned how to make the bombs," Iskandar said.

A source told the police that to make the bombs, ES bought "all the detonators, the timers, and nine-volt batteries from shops in Medan, North Sumatra."

"The explosives were bought by PO, who is still at large. PO gave the explosives to ES, who made the bombs. The rest, I can't say now."

Other suspects in the case were identified as Roni Miliar, Agus Kurniawan, Haji Aceng Suhari and Iqbal of West Java and Fachrozi of Jakarta.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Yun Mulyana confirmed on Tuesday the arrest of Aceng, 51, and Iqbal alias Didin alias Iyep, 40, was made at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday in a house at Bentarsari village in Salem district in Brebes.

Mulyana expressed hope that following Aceng's arrest, police will be able to capture Holis alias Udin, 31.

"We hope Aceng and Iqbal will give us further leads to find other suspects and reveal to us more of the bombing network," he said.

According to suspects Roni Miliar and Agus Kurniawan -- whose police dossiers have been handed over to state prosecutors -- Iqbal had preached to them about the "spirit of Jihad and the suffering of Muslims in Ambon, Maluku."

Both Agus and Miliar admitted to the police that they met Iqbal on Dec. 19 last year.

Chief of Ciamis Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said on Tuesday that police had surveilled the two suspects for the past two weeks.

Despite the police's repeated denials, the investigation team of the Indonesian Forum for Peace (FID) revealed on Tuesday that in their reports the police and witnesses cited nine names of former military officials in connection with the bombings.

"We are still verifying the alleged involvement of the nine generals, two of whom have already been mentioned by President Abdurrahman," secretary of the team, Munir, told a media conference.

"We surmise that if these people were proven to be the Christmas bombings perpetrators, they could be the masterminds of the whole recent bombing incidents with the exception of the blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange building last September," he added.

Abdurrahman reportedly mentioned former Army chief of staff Gen. (ret.) R. Hartono and former chief of Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto.

Munir suspected there have been some internal problems in the police force which have hampered the investigation.

"We can clearly see that the police are still preoccupied with political causes and not wholly dedicated to the service of the public. The police seem to resist the public's involvement in the investigation as it may disturb the force's political work." (25/bby/ylt/edt)