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.