Police arrest four more suspects implicated in Makassar bombing
Police arrest four more suspects implicated in Makassar bombing
Indonesian police have arrested four more suspects linked to the bomb attack on a McDonald's outlet in South Sulawesi's capital Makassar last December that left three people dead and 11 injured, news reports said Friday.
The new arrests bring to 24 the number of suspects taken into police custody in connection with the McDonald's bombing and another blast at a car showroom in Makassar on December 5, 2002.
Detik.com online news service reported police have also seized pistols with 16 rounds of bullets from the four new suspects, one of whom was a retired military officer.
The first of the new suspects, identified as Amran, was nabbed by police in Makassar on February 15. His capture led to the arrests of three other suspects on Thursday.
Those suspects were arrested in Palopo's sub-district of Luwuk regency, 500 kilometers from Makassar, the report said.
During interrogation, Amran admitted that the weapons belonged to Agung Abdul Hamid, the alleged mastermind behind the McDonald's bombing.
Police said Agung fled with several bombs following the attack.
Police said investigators working the Makassar bombing had found that Amran attended a meeting at Agung's house to plan the attack.
Amran also accompanied Agung to the troubled town of Poso in Central Sulawesi, which has been torn apart by sectarian fighting since 2000, they said.
These findings were corroborated by testimony from witnesses, according to the police.
The McDonald's attack took place only about two months after the October bombings on the resort island of Bali, which killed nearly 200 people and injured some 300 others, most foreigner tourists.
The National Police have linked the Bali blasts and the Makassar attack, blaming both on the regional terror group Jamaah Islamiyah.
Investigators say Agung Hamid is a colleague of Imam Samudra, the alleged mastermind of the Bali attacks. The two suspects are both believed to have attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. -- Agencies