Police arrest four, Azahari slips away

Police arrest four, Azahari slips away

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police announced on Wednesday the arrest of four suspects in the
bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta over two months
ago, but said the country's most wanted fugitive had again
slipped through their fingers.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said one of the
suspects told investigators that Malaysian fugitive Azahari bin
Husin, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 9 embassy bombing, had
escaped arrest three times just after the embassy attack.

Da'i said the suspect told police that officers had stopped
Azahari near Kuningan, where the Australian Embassy is located,
for a traffic violation but failed to recognize him and let him
go after he gave the officers some money.

"Whether the claim is true or not, we don't know. But if that
is true, it should give us pause for thought. Traffic police in
Jakarta have now pictures of Azahari and Noordin Moh. Top in
their pockets," he said.

Azahari and fellow Malaysian Noordin are also wanted for their
alleged roles in the Bali bombings in 2002 and the attack on the
JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last year.

Pictures of the suspects have been posed in public places
across the country, including shopping malls, office buildings
and gas stations. Police have also offered a Rp 1 billion
(US$111,100) reward for any tip leading to the arrest of the men.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the arrest of the
suspected terrorists within 100 days of his inauguration on Oct.
20.

Da'i identified the four suspects arrested by police as Rois,
alias Iwan Darmawan, M. Hasan, alias Purnomo, Apuy, alias Ahmad,
alias Ipul, and Ansori, alias Sogir. He said the arrests would
lead police to the two Malaysian fugitives, who allegedly
recruited the four to carry out the bombing.

The four men were arrested separately on Nov. 5 in Bogor, West
Java. Da'i said they were carrying explosives strapped around
their waists and in backpacks, but officers were able to
overwhelm them before they could set off the devices.

"They put dozens of live bullets inside the explosive
packages, which would have endangered anyone around them if the
packages had exploded," Da'i said.

Police said the four played significant roles in the Sept. 9
bombing, which left 11 people dead, including suicide bomber Heri
Golun, and dozens of others severely injured.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer hailed the
arrests, saying the Indonesian police "have been vigorous in
tracking down and trying to bring to justice those responsible".

Canberra also wants the Indonesians to follow up on any
possible links between the arrested men and the Oct. 12, 2002,
Bali bombing, which claimed the lives of 2002 people including 88
Australians.

Da'i said Rois was in charge of recruiting Heri to carry out
the suicide bombing outside the embassy, bought the vehicle used
in the attack, helped assemble the bomb and found safe houses for
the Malaysian fugitives.

Hasan allegedly provided a house in Blitar, East Java, for the
Malaysians, found a location to train bomb makers and fled with
Azahari to Cikampek, West Java, on a motorcycle after the embassy
bombing.

Apuy was recruited by Rois and took part in military training
in Pelabuhan Ratu, near Sukabumi in West Java, while Ansori was
trained in bomb making in Blitar and helped assemble the bomb for
the embassy attack, Da'i said.

The four are being held at National Police Headquarters. They
are likely to be charged under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism and
could face the death penalty if found guilty.

Police also confiscated "sophisticated" battery-powered
explosive devices containing TNT, and dozens of bullets from the
suspects and from a rented house in Cicurug, Sukabumi, which
allegedly was used by the four and several accomplices to
assemble bombs.