Police arrest alleged terrorist bomber

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

JAKARTA: An alleged member of regional terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) had been arrested for his alleged role in a church bombing in December 2000 and for hiding a Bali bomb suspect, National Police said Thursday.

The suspect, identified as 52-year-old Zoefri Yoes, alias Datuak, was arrested in Kalimalang, East Jakarta, on May 9 and has been transferred to Pekanbaru Police Headquarters for questioning.

Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis, from National Police Headquarters, said Zoefrie was suspected of involvement in a church bombing in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru on Christmas Eve, 2000.

"He knew about the plan and helped store explosives (at the church)," Zainuri told reporters.

No one was hurt in the blast, one of a series directed against churches across the country that night that claimed 19 lives.

Zainuri said the suspect became involved in the bombing to revenge the deaths of Muslims in protracted religious fighting with Christians in the Maluku islands.

Zoefri would also be charged with hiding Bali bombing suspect Idris alias Joni Hendrawan, who is still at large, he said.

"Zoefrie knew the whereabouts of Idris but did not report them to police."

Idris, a son in law of Zoefrie, allegedly stayed in Zoefri's house in Jakarta when he was on the run.

Meanwhile, Bali bombing suspect Ahmad Roichan has told police that a unit of JI terror group carried out the blasts but not on orders from the top leadership.

Koran Tempo newspaper said Ahmad Roichan, alias Sa'ad, had told police the bombing was conducted by a JI unit but that the attack "did not go through the decision-making mechanism of the Jamaah Islamiyah council."

Police have said the initial decision to pick a "soft target" on Bali was made at a meeting of top JI leaders at a Bangkok meeting in February 2002.

"The Bali bomb explosions were done by a unit led by Ali Ghufron alias Mukhlas," the newspaper quoted him as saying, citing a police report on his questioning.

The Bali police chief and his spokesman could not immediately be reached for confirmation.

Police have already said JI was behind the bombs that ripped through two packed nightspots in Bali on October 12, killing 202 people.

Sa'ad, who reportedly admits being a JI member, said Mukhlas and another suspect, Hernianto, had visited him in the city of Solo in Central Java after the blast and told him the explosions were their work.

Sa'ad, confirming past reports, said Mukhlas heads one of the four JI regional commands.

Sa'ad was one of 18 alleged JI members, including three Bali suspects, arrested last month. Four were later released.

So far, police have rounded up more than 30 people for the Bali blasts that killed more than 200 people and injured over 350 others, mostly foreigners.