JP/5/bomb

Police kill terror suspect, nab two others

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post Medan, North Sumatra

North Sumatra Police said on Wednesday they had shot dead an alleged Aceh separatist rebel and captured two others accused of planting bombs in the provincial capital of Medan.

The two arrested on Tuesday night included Marzuki, the alleged mastermind of the terror attack, who has been long under the police manhunt for bombing incidents in restive Aceh province.

The other arrested suspect was identified as Usman, while his accomplice named as M. Nur was shot dead by the police as he tried to escape during a raid in Belawan district, near Medan.

Medan Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Maruli Siahaan said Nur had actually been arrested in Belawan but tried to flee when police officers were transporting him aboard a car.

"The police were then forced to shoot the suspect to weaken him. He died for serious bleeding while being brought to Pirngadi Hospital," he said.

His body was still kept at the hospital, he added.

Maruli said the three suspects were rounded up at their rented house on Jl. Yacub, Medan.

They were charged with a bombing near the Amplas junction on Jan. 5 on Jl. Sisingamangaraja, he said. No one was injured in the blast, which took place in an empty house.

They were also responsible for another unexploded bomb, which was found hours later at the nearby Sukaramai market, Maruli added.

Police said the two bombs were identical and equipped with timers, used wet batteries and were placed inside a 25-centimeter-long pipe.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Mardi Rukmianto, who heads the antiterror team with the North Sumatra Police office, said the three suspects were captured following the earlier arrests of their six accomplices -- Abdul Samat, 24, Syaifuddin, 31, Syaifullah, 30, Anwar, 20, Idris Roni alias Pek Ri, 58, and Tengku Usman, 28.

Mardi said two of the six suspects had confessed to detonating the homemade bomb at the Amplas junction and planting another bomb at the Sukaramai market.

They also admitted to have planned to plant a third bomb in Medan before they were arrested.

"We are investigating to find where the third bomb is being kept. The police believe that it is stored by Marzuki," Mardi said.

On Tuesday, Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan said the six suspects confessed to planning the attack on the orders of Marzuki, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leader for North Aceh.

Marzuki was also allegedly involved in the 2003 blast at the Medan mayor's office.

That blast was believed to be masterminded by Medan Deli's GAM leader Abdul Wahal, Bagus said.

He said police believed Abdul Samat and Syaifuddin were also involved in many other bombings in East Aceh.

Police had sufficient evidence to prove all six suspects were GAM members, he said.

Syaifuddin, interviewed by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, admitted to have been involved in the blasts in East Aceh and Amplas but denied he was a GAM member. He said he took part in the bombings for money.

"I was given Rp 100,000 (US$12) by Marzuki after the homemade bomb exploded at the Amplas crossroad area," Syaifuddin said, adding that he was assigned to detonate the bomb after it was assembled by others.

Another suspect, Anwar, told a similar story, saying he was given Rp 100,000 by Marzuki after planting the bomb at the Sukaramai market.