Police arrest two bomb suspects

Police arrest two bomb suspects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Makassar/Yogyakarta

Police officers arrested on Monday two suspects in the 2002
McDonald's explosion in Makassar and the 2003 Cafe Sampoto Indah
bombing in Palopo, both in South Sulawesi.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman announced on
Monday that the two, identified as Agung Abdul Hamid, 36, and
Anshari, alias Munir Saleh, 27, were arrested last Sunday and
were being questioned at the Yogyakarta police headquarters to
find out if they had a role in other terror attacks in the
country.

"A joint team from the Yogyakarta and South Sulawesi police
departments nabbed them on Sunday night. We suspect that they
were involved in bombings at the Cafe in Palopo that killed 4
people and the McDonald's bomb in Makassar," said Paiman.

However, Yogyakarta police chief Sr. Comr. Condro Kirono
said Agung was nabbed when he was driving a motorcycle on Jl.
Mangkubumi in Yogyakarta, on Sunday while Anshari had been in
police custody since September 27.

Paiman said the two suspects would be brought to Makassar as
soon as police finished questioning them in Yogyakarta.

National Police antiterror division director Brig. Gen.
Pranowo Dahlan said that Agung was a member of Laskar Jundullah,
a little-known Makassar-based militant group, which is believed
to have links with the al-Qaeda and Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror
groups.

JI is a locally based UN-listed terrorist organization blamed
for the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, and
the Aug. 5, 2003 JW Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta, which
killed 12 people.

South Sulawesi police chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said in
Makassar on Monday that Agung was the main suspect in a blast at
the McDonald's restaurant in Makassar in December 2002 that
killed three persons and another bombing at an auto show room
belonging to vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla.

Police have named 25 suspects in the case, of which 21 have
been convicted while one suspect died in the blast. Three of
them, including Agung, managed to flee the scene.

"We've been searching for him for two years. We can't bring
him here yet because he was being questioned by a team from the
National Police headquarters for his alleged role in another
bombing," Saleh said.

He said that there was an indication that Agung had met with
Malaysian fugitive Azahari bin Husin in Jakarta and was possibly
involved in the Australian Embassy blast on Sept. 9.

Together with Noordin Mohd. Top, Azahari is believed to have
masterminded the Bali bombings and the JW Marriott Hotel attack.

Police said the two have been actively recruiting dozens of
local suicide bombers, including the one who perpetrated the
embassy attack, which left 10 dead.

So far, police have named six suspects in the bombing and
declared Heri Golun, alias Heri Kurniawan from Karawang, West
Java as the suicide bomber.

Condro said Agung was in Yogyakarta most likely because his
wife lives there.

As Agung was taken to the police station, he frequently
bellowed Allahu akbar (Allah is great) in between his continual
condemnation of the United States.

"Fight and destroy America. Allah is great!" he beseeched.