Police detect financial source in bombing spree
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Police chief claimed he had identified those responsible for the recent spate of bombings in the country.
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said here on Tuesday that the names were extracted from other bomb suspects currently undergoing police interrogation.
"It is not a group, but individuals that financed the suspects' activities," Da'i said without elaborating.
He said the names would be disclosed soon after the police completed their investigation.
"We have to check further into the motives of those involved and how they transferred the funds to the agents. All results of the investigation will be announced to the public later on," the general said.
There is much speculation that the mastermind may be a former minister in president B.J. Habibie's Cabinet.
Indonesia has seen dozens of bomb attacks in a number of public places, including churches, mosques and shopping centers in the last few years.
The most recent one in Jakarta occurred two weeks ago when the Graha Cijantung mall in East Jakarta was rocked by a strong explosion. The police are still investigating three Acehnese suspects while another is still at large.
Many suspect that the bombing spate may involve remnants of the old regime, which was brought down in 1998.
However, some government and military officials claimed that most of the bombings in the capital were related to the separatist movement in Aceh.
Without directly accusing Acehnese separatists, Da'i would only say that the suspects were from the province.
Separately, National Police Spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said that they had frozen the four suspects' bank accounts.
He also refused to identify those who had transferred funds to the suspects.
"We seized Rp 50 million (US$5617,4) in cash from the suspects but the amount in their bank accounts is higher than that," he told The Jakarta Post.
He also warned the public about the possibility of bombings before and during the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly scheduled from Aug. 1 to Aug. 12.