Four Palopo bombing suspects arrested

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.