Eight named suspects in bombings

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)