Police arrest key suspect in deadly Bali bombing
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Less than two months after the Bali bombings, police arrested on Thursday Imam Samudra, the alleged mastermind of the deadly attacks, at Merak port, Banten province, some 90 kilometers west of Jakarta.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said Samudra, who goes by six aliases, was arrested while on a bus heading for Sumatra.
"Imam Samudra was arrested at 5:30 p.m. on board a Kurnia Line bus that was about to go aboard the ferry to Sumatra," Da'i said.
Da'i said police were acting on a tip from Rauf and Yudi, who were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
It is not yet clear how police investigators came to arrest the two or what their relationship with Imam Samudra is.
"He (Imam) was not carrying any weapon. He did not resist police arrest," the police chief said.
Da'i refused to reveal where Samudra is being detained, but local police chief Sr. Comr. Abdulrahman told AFP on Thursday that Samudra was being taken from West Java to National Police Headquarters in Jakarta.
It was not known whether he would be flown to Bali to join Amrozi, the first suspect to be arrested for the attacks that killed over 190 people and injured more than 300 others, mostly foreigners.
Amrozi told police investigators earlier that Samudra alias Al Fatih, Fat, Kudama, Abu Umar, or Heri, was the mastermind and quartermaster for the deadly terrorist attacks, believed to have been the worst since the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington last year.
Police said Samudra chaired meetings to plan the Oct. 12 nightclub terror bombings, identified the targets and gave the order to carry them out.
Authorities have also identified Samudra, 35, as a leader of Jamaah Islamiyah, a regional network the United Nations recently put on its list of terrorist groups.
Police have described Samudra as a well-educated computer expert and also a cool, calculated killer.
So cool, in fact, that after the bombing police believe he remained on the resort island for four days inspecting the deadly results of his handiwork.
Little or nothing is known about his motives although police say he had visited Afghanistan.
Da'i said the arrest would hopefully shed further light on the motives, explosives, and networks involved in the bombings.
So far, police are still in the dark about the source of the explosives used in the Bali bombings which are claimed to have been "scientifically planned" and precisely timed.
The first bomb exploded in Paddy's Cafe, killing eight people. Six seconds later, the second bomb, which was the most powerful, detonated in front of the Sari Club, followed by an explosion close to the U.S. honorary consulate in Renon, Denpasar.
Police have thus far concluded that the explosives used in the bombings were TNT, RDX, HMX, and PETN, though the Australian Federal Police claimed to have found TNT and chlorate only.
"Hopefully, after this arrest (of Samudra), we will get the whole story, including his role from the planning and execution his escape after the bombings," said Da'i.
Da'i also said the arrest would help police solve a series of bombings across the country since 2000.
Police have wanted Samudra since 2000 over the Christmas eve bombings in 2000 which killed 19 people and injured dozens of others, and a failed bombing attempt at the Atrium Plaza in 2001.
Samudra's name also came up following the finding discovery by police of military-style training operations in Pandeglang, West Java, which were believed to have been related to the bombings that have occurred across the country.
He is also believed to have been behind the recent bombings in Pekanbaru and Batam.
With Samudra's arrest, police are now still hunting down five other suspects, Patek, Ali Imron, Wayan, Dulmatin and Idris, all of whom are still at large.
Samudra's elder sister, Nunung, who was interviewed on SCTV television, said news of the arrest "has been a heaviest blow for our family."
She identified a photograph of Samudra as being her brother but said she had not seen him for years.
"I do not believe that he is the mastermind ... he is too young, there must be others above him."
Al-Qadar Faisal, a lawyer for the family, said Samudra's mother Embay Badriah appeared shocked at the news of the arrest, but also wanted to confirm that the man was really her son.
Embay Badriah said earlier this week that her son left home in 1990 for Malaysia to find work as soon as he graduated from his Islamic high school with flying colors.
She never heard of him after that until he returned home in 2000, and left again a few hours later.
"He said he was going out to meet old friends but he never came back."