Police hunt for Bali suspect's accomplices

Police hunt for Bali suspect's accomplices

The Jakarta Post, Kuta/Jakarta

Police investigators intensified their search on Friday for the
accomplices of a man who has admitted to helping build the Bali
bomb in a bid to kill as many Americans as possible.

A spokesman for a joint inquiry team investigating the Oct. 12
terrorist attack in Bali, Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said that
an intensive manhunt was going on in several regions where the
culprits were believed to be hiding.

"If everything goes according to plan, we should be able to
catch more of these people in the not too distant future,"
Aritonang was quoted by AP as saying.

Police said on Friday they raided three locations in suspect
Amrozi's home village of Tenggulun in Lamongan regency, East
Java. They searched the home of Amrozi's father's first wife and
two homes owned by a friend of Amrozi.

"We raided the three places because we thought he kept
explosives and guns in those places," said a police detective who
refused to be named. "But when we went there, someone had removed
all of his belongings."

In Manila, the Philippines, chief of the investigative team
Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika gave details of the plot that
claimed the lives of more than 190 people in a nightclub inferno
on the resort island.

Pastika, who is currently attending an antiterrorism
conference in Manila, said Amrozi had admitted to helping build
the main bomb because he hated Americans and wanted to "kill as
many Americans as possible".

"He did it because (he says) America oppresses Muslims and he
wanted revenge.

"But they were not that happy because Australians were killed
in big numbers," Pastika was quoted by AFP as saying.

Amrozi was arrested on Tuesday at his home in a remote East
Java village where he ran a motorcycle repair shop and cell phone
sales center. He was flown to Bali on Wednesday for further
questioning.

Police investigators are also focusing on a possible link
between Amrozi and Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), the regional terrorist
group that is suspected of the Bali attack.

Pastika said no connection had been found so far, although
Amrozi had admitted having met Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir and another Indonesian called Riduan Isamuddin, alias
Hambali.

Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil described Amrozi on
Friday as a member of JI and said the bombing was obviously
linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. He did not
elaborate.

The head of the U.S. State Department's counterterrorism
center, Francis Taylor, told the Manila conference that it had
been established that there were links between JI and al-Qaeda.

Pastika said planning for the attack began in early September
in Malaysia. He said authorities were looking for at least five
other suspects, all Indonesians whose identities were known.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said in
Jakarta on Friday that the arrest of Amrozi might lead police to
uncover the circumstances of other bombings across the country.

"Amrozi mentioned several names, including Imam Samodra and
Hambali," Da'i told reporters.

Da'i said police were tracking down both Imam Samodra and
Hambali as suspects in bombings at Atrium Plaza in Senen, Central
Jakarta, and other bomb attacks on churches across the capital in
2000.

Da'i stressed that Amrozi worked in a team that had several
members.

"We hope Amrozi's arrest will lead to other suspects who are
still at large. After we arrest them all, maybe we can unveil the
motive behind the bombings as well the network," said Da'i.

Amrozi's facial features could be similar to one of the four
composite sketches of suspects, particularly to the one with
shoulder-length hair. Aritonang refused to confirm this matter,
but gave a hint.

"After the bombing, Amrozi has cut his hair. In fact, he cut
it on two different occasions. You can conclude for yourself what
kind of man needs to cut his hair twice in such a short period of
time," he said.

Aritonang revealed that Amrozi picture had been shown to
several witnesses, whose information played a critical role in
the making of the three sketches, and they verified that Amrozi
was the man they had described to the police in the first place.

"He was officially named a suspect because we have substantial
evidence that connects him to the Mitsubishi L-300 minivan used
in the bombing. He is one of the perpetrators of the bombings,"
Aritonang stressed.