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.