Palopo blast aimed for 'jihad'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A bomb attack on a cafe in the town of Palopo, South Sulawesi, was part of a jihad (holy war) against vice in nightclubs and bars, a key suspect was quoted on Monday by the provincial police as saying.

"That's our preliminary conclusion based on the confession by key suspect Jasmin who was captured yesterday (Sunday)," South Sulawesi Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Andi Nurman Thahir told Antara.

He said Jasmin alias Jamir alias Yamming told investigators that he objected to rampant "sinful activities" in nightclubs and bars, such as prostitution.

Nurman said Jasmin confessed to having bombed the Sampoddo Indah Cafe in Palopo on Jan. 10, killing four people and seriously injuring three others.

The prime suspect admitted that he and his accomplice Ahmad, who is still at large, assembled the bomb and put it under Table No. 11 in the cafe minutes before it exploded at 10:30 p.m.

Jasmin also mentioned the name of Andi Oddang, who allegedly played a role in the blast, Nurman said, adding that the police were currently hunting Oddang

Nurman said the police were interrogating Jasmin to determine if Agung Abdul Hamid, the alleged mastermind of the Dec. 5, 2002, bombing in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, had been involved in the Palopo attack.

Agung, who remains at large since the Makassar blast, which killed three people, was seen by another suspect in the Jan. 10 blast, Arman, eating together at a restaurant in Palopo several days after the incident, investigators said.

Jasmin was arrested at Noling village in Bupong subdistrict, Luwu regency, on Sunday morning.

The police seized several items of evidence from Jasmin, including an FN gun, four traditional Papporo weapons, a sack of ammonium nitrate and pipes.

Jasmin's elder brother, Jasman, was also arrested for allegedly harboring the key suspect, who is one of seven people being detained over the Palopo blast.

The police are now searching for seven other suspects who disappeared after the attack -- Munir, Aswandi alias Aco bin Kasim, Ishak, Nirwan, Andi Oddang, Ahmad and Agung Abdul Hamid.

Nurman said the police had not yet established which group the 14 suspects belonged to, but said they had once participated in a training camp run by the hard-line Laskar Jihad group in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi.