Four men arrested

Four men arrested
over Palopo blast

Sandy Darmosumarto
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

South Sulawesi police have captured four suspects charged with
the bombing earlier this month at the Sampoddo Indah Cafe in
Palopo regency, which killed four people.

National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng
told journalists in Jakarta on Thursday that the four were
arrested on Wednesday.

"Two of the four suspects in the Palopo blast have been
identified as Rizal and Dedi. Apparently, Rizal is one of those
whose sketches have already been made public," he added.

The arrests came after South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen.
Jusuf Manggabarani had earlier offered a Rp 50 million (US$5,952)
reward for civilians able to provide accurate information that
leads to the capture of the Palopo bombers.

Police officers were offered a Rp 40 million reward.

Erwin said that the police have also identified other suspects
still at large, including one who was the alleged mastermind of
the McDonald's bombing on Nov. 5, 2002 in Makassar, South
Sulawesi.

But he stopped short of naming that suspect. The South
Sulawesi police have named Agung Abdul Hamid as the McDonald's
bombing mastermind. He remains at large.

"The police have actually identified 12 suspects in the Palopo
blast, including one who masterminded the Makassar attack. We are
yet to capture this person, however," Erwin said.

Previously, the police had detained seven people over the
Palopo attack, but released them later due to a lack of evidence
to charge them.

Investigators have said they found evidence that the two
terror attacks in South Sulawesi could be linked because both the
Sampoddo Cafe and McDonald's bombs were of similar type.

However, the bomb in Palopo was detonated using an remote
device, while the Makassar bomb was detonated on a timer, they
added.

Police blamed local branch of the terror network Jamaah
Islamiyah for the Makassar blast and the Bali bombing on Oct. 12,
2001 that killed 202 people from many countries.