I don't know Mukhlas; Israeli spies spies, Americans were targeted: Samudra

I Wayan Juniartha and Ade Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Jakarta

Imam Samudra suspected team leader of the Oct. 12 terror bombing in Bali, denied knowing other main suspect Mukhlas alias Ali Gufron who has previously admitted to channeling US$30,000 from Malaysian Wan Min to finance the bombing.

Samudra, whose real name is Abdul Azis, also denied that the bomb blasts had anything to do with Mukhlas, the older brother of Amrozi, also a suspect in the bombing case. All three, along with four other suspects who were apprehended in Klaten, Central Java, last week, are being held at the Bali Police Headquarters.

Lawyer Qadhar Faisal from the Muslim Lawyer Team who accompanied Samudra in the police interrogation here on Friday said that with the confession, his client also denied that he had received funds from Mukhlas.

"No, Samudra did not admit receiving funds from Wan Min through Mukhlas. He (Samudra) admitted to robbing a gold shop in Serang, Banten, to finance the bombing," he said after the police investigation.

The investigative team has sent several investigators to Malaysia to seek a clarification about Mukhlas's confession regarding Wan Min who has already been arrested by Malaysian Police.

Qadhar said that according to Samudra's confession, Mukhlas was not involved in making the explosives used to bomb the Paddy's Cafe and Sari Club.

"I do know the so-called Solo (Surakarta, Central Java) Group and those who were involved in the Bali bombing from the group were Idris, Dulmatin alias Amar Usman and Amrozi. That is all," he quoted Samudra as saying.

Dulmatin is still at large while Idris and Amrozi were put in separate cells in the police detention house here.

Qadhar said further that Samudra, who admitted to being the mastermind of the bombing, also confessed that the explosives were assembled by Dulmatin and the explosive materials were supplied by Amrozi from chemical shops in Surabaya, but did not know where the bombs were assembled.

He said that when asked about the motives, Samudra admitted hating the United States which he said was a true terrorist.

"United States is a terrorist which has, for a long time, insulted Islam and so we chose to bomb Paddy's and Sari Club because the two venues were frequently visited by American citizens and Mossad (Israeli Intelligence) men," Qadhar quoted Samudra as saying.

Seven U.S. citizens were killed and no Israeli agents or citizens were among the dead, however dozens of Indonesians and Australians were killed in the attack. Israelis are barred from entering Indonesia.

Meanwhile, in Semarang, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar questioned whether Samudra and Amrozi had acted alone in the series of blasts that rocked other cities in the country since 2000.

"Is it possible that the series of bombings were the idea of only Imam Samudra or Amrozi?" he asked.

He said the police had found important documents connecting the series of bomb blasts as part of Jamaah Islamiyah's activities in the country. "Amrozi confessed that the funds came from Malaysia, and all the suspects of the separate blasts knew one another," he said.

In a related development, the Supreme Court will send three justices to Bali to monitor all preparations for the planned trial of the Bali bombing until the suspects are taken to court in accordance with the law.

Chief justice Bagir Manan said the three justices, Paulus E. Lotulung, Toton Suprapto and Geerman H. Hudiarto would be sent in the near future and the close monitoring was needed since the case had attracted the world's attention.