Fourth suspect arrested in Ambon blast

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

The police arrested early on Saturday a fourth suspect in connection with Thursday's bomb blast in Ambon, the capital of Maluku, and confiscated explosive materials from the house of a local terror group leader who remains at large.

Bakri Kaliki alias Ong was captured at around 3 a.m. in Luhu village, Seram regency after a joint team of the Ambon Police and Maluku Police's antiterror unit obtained information from previously arrested suspects, Ambon and Lease Islands Police chief Adj. Comr. Leonidas Braksan said.

Bakri was accused of planning the bomb attack together with Arsyad, one of the leaders of terrorist group Mujahidin Ambon, which has been blamed for a series of terror attacks in the region.

Upon receiving information from the suspect, the police headed to Arsyad's hiding place in Air Kuning area in Sirimau Ambon district, and found explosive materials including four kilograms of processed TNT (trinitrotoluene) powder, a bag of sulfurous chemical material, black powder, containers and pipes.

The police said that the materials were to be used for future terror attacks by the group.

Arsyad, who is a fugitive following a shooting incident at the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters in Ambon, is known to have expertise in assembling bombs.

The explosion on Thursday of the crude bomb at Mardika market in Ambon injured nine people but no one was killed.

The police said that the motive behind the latest bombing was to trigger fresh violence in Ambon, which has for several years been hit by Muslim-Christian violence.

Mardika market was set up to serve both Christians and Muslims following a government-sponsored peace agreement in 2002.

Leonidas said he believed that Arsyad, who is from East Java, and two other suspects were still hiding somewhere on Seram Island.

"These are dangerous people, we expect the public to provide information on their whereabouts," he said.