Police find more bombs terrorists to be buried soon

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police have found several homemade bombs, explosive materials and detonators in a raid on a house in Southeast Sulawesi, an officer said on Monday.

The raid was conducted late on Friday following a tipoff from local residents. The house, where the detonators and the bombs were stored, is located in Bajo Indah area near the provincial capital of Kendari.

"Among the things we found inside the house were 19 homemade bombs, 11 detonators, nine containers of fertilizer with high ammonium nitrate content and cables," Southeast Sulawesi Police spokesman Aji Hartono told AFP.

The police arrested three men found in the house and they are still being interrogated. However, the police refused to reveal the identities of those arrested.

Separately in Jakarta, the family of Agus Puryanto confirmed the identity the body of the terrorist suspect on Monday at the Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramatjati, East Jakarta.

Agus, also known as Arman, was killed along with explosives expert Azahari bin Husin in a police raid on their hideout in Malang, East Java on Nov. 9. Agus reportedly blew himself up after a shoot-out.

Agus' father Sukadi, who came all the way from Ngawi, East Java to identify the body, confirmed that it was his son whose body parts were kept in the hospital morgue.

"He (Sukadi) recognized some facial features of his son including his straight black hair and the shape of his ears. He was in a deep shock because he could not believe that his son helped Azahari," the family's lawyer M. Kurniawan said.

Reports have said that Agus assisted Azahari assemble bombs, including those detonated in three Bali restaurants on Oct. 1. However, the police have so far not determined Agus' role in the Azahari-led terrorist network.

"We're still wondering why he (Agus) has been named a suspect. If he was deemed guilty for not informing the police about Azahari then he should be considered a victim because he (Azahari) might have forced him to find a house to rent in Batu, Malang," Kurniawan said.

The lawyer added that he would try to talk to police investigators about the status of Agus since the case file had not been completed yet.

"According to the Antiterrorism Law, a case file should be completed before naming a person a suspect. That's what we want to find out," Kurniawan said.

Sukadi said the remains of his son would be buried at his hometown Ngawi as local residents and the administration had no objection to the plan.

In contrast, the remains of Salik Firdaus, one of the three suspected Bali suicide bombers, will be buried in Jakarta following resistance from local residents in his hometown Majalengka in West Java. The residents said they neither knew Salik nor would they allow the body of a terrorist suspect to be buried in their town.