Police accuse GAM over Medan bombing

Police accuse GAM over Medan bombing

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Police on Tuesday arrested six suspects they said were part of a
network of Aceh separatists involved in an abortive attempt to
bomb a mall here last month.

Officers were hunting down two more suspects believed to be
the masterminds of the bombing attempt, police said.

Medan Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Maruli Siahaan
said the arrests of the suspects would prove false allegations
key Jamaah Islamiyah member Dr. Azhari was involved in the
incident.

The six were arrested separately at various places in Medan
this month, Maruli said. He was optimistic police would arrest
the two masterminds of the operation soon.

The police for the first time paraded the six men in front of
journalists.

They were identified as M. Nur alias Raju alias Bodrin,
Ridwan, Frizal Wahyu, Charial Husen, Ismail and Syafrizal. All
are suspected members of the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Raju, 27, an alleged bomb maker, confessed he had agreed to
assemble the bomb because he was promised with millions of rupiah
in a fee.

He had only received Rp 3.5 million (US$410) and was asked to
get the remainder from another suspect, Syafrizal, he said.

"I assembled the bomb at the order of Wak Li (who is still at
large). Materials for the bomb were given (to me) by Wak Li
through his friend Bruju, from Aceh, but he did not say where he
bought them from," Raju told The Jakarta Post.

He explained the bomb he assembled would have exploded within
two hours after Frizal Wahyu had planted it in the mall.

"I was the one who set the timer. I was given the authority to
do it. I was not ordered to detonate the bomb at a certain time,"
he said.

Raju said he learned to make bombs from his friend, known only
as Asnawi, in 2000.

According to Raju, Asnawi offered to teach him how to make
bombs because he said the skill was worth money.

The bomb was found by an employee of the Macan Yaohan mall. It
was tied together with two detonators, nine batteries and a timer
but failed to explode due to a low battery charge.

The police had earlier requested assistance from two members
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate the
bomb. The FBI members' conclusion has not been made public.