Pictures released of suspected bombers' accomplices
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The police released on Saturday a photograph and a sketch of two men who allegedly helped Malaysian bomb makers Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh. Top perpetrate the blast outside the Australian Embassy here earlier this month.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said one of the men, identified as Heri, was the last owner of the white Daihatsu Zebra van carrying registration number B 9065 NH. He remains at large.
"Heri bought the car along with Mr. X and Mr. Y, both of whom we are still looking for," Da'i told a press briefing at the Media Center at the Sari Pan Pacific hotel in Central Jakarta.
He said the police finished the sketch of Heri's face based on witnesses' accounts.
The police, Da'i added, are still collecting information and working on the sketches of Mr. X and Mr. Y. "It is a bit slow as this man (Heri) did most of the communicating, while the other two were quiet," said Da'i.
The van was bought from a showroom in Pondok Gede, Bekasi, on Aug. 6, about a month before the bombing that left at least 10 people dead, including one of the perpetrators.
The van was later used by another man, identified by his initials, AAH, to transport the explosives to three different houses in West Java and Banten. AAH is now in police custody and has been named a suspect.
"We have located the houses in West Java and Banten but we are still searching for the house in Jakarta," Da'i said.
AAH, whose photograph was released on Saturday, has confessed to transporting four boxes and six bags of bomb materials from a house in Menceng, Cengkareng, West Jakarta, to West Java upon the order of a man named Rois. The latter has been on the police's most-wanted list for the last two years for his role in the Bali bombings in 2002, in which 202 people were killed, mostly Australians.
In the rented house in Menceng, police found trinitrotoluene and sulfur, which were also found at the site of last week's bombing.
Da'i said AAH had admitted that Azahari once stayed at his house in West Java for two nights.
Police have also named three men known by their initials UB, IS and TN as suspects on the charges of harboring Azahari and involvement in plotting the bombing. The police caught the three prior to the Australian Embassy blast.
Police believe that Azahari and Noordin masterminded the Bali blasts and the attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last year.
Da'i said the police suspect the perpetrators of last week's blast procured the explosives from smugglers.
The police have so far questioned 79 people and detained 10 others in connection with the case. They released on Friday Rahmatullah and his wife, who were arrested in Sidoarjo, East Java on Wednesday, due to insufficient evidence.
Da'i said the police were still waiting for the results of DNA tests on three blood samples in order to identify body parts found at the blast site.
They are also examining fragments of cars and other objects found at the scene.
The police have concluded that the attack was committed by a suicide bomber, but are yet to find the detonator of the bomb.