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.