Police identify six more suspects

Police identify six more suspects

I Wayan Juniartha and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

The joint investigation team into the Bali bombing identified on
Sunday six more suspects, a development that provided a clearer
picture of the perpetrators of the deadly blasts.

Chief of the joint team Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika told a
press conference here that the suspects were believed to be still
be in Indonesia.

"We assume that they, including Imam Samodra, are still in
Indonesia. Some of them are currently hiding in very sensitive
places," Pastika said without elaborating.

When asked whether he was referring to Islamic boarding
schools, Pastika refused to comment.

Pastika claimed the composite sketches of the suspects were
more accurate than the previous ones released to the public last
month.

"By releasing these (new) sketches, we hope that the people,
who live around those sensitive places will voluntarily inform us
on the whereabouts of the suspects," he said.

Citing the government regulation in lieu of law on terrorism
under which the investigation is being conducted, Pastika warned
that anybody who assisted a terrorist on purpose, including by
providing shelter, could be sentenced to between three and 15
years in jail.

Two of the sketches were a refined version of the previously
released pictures of Dulmatin and Idris. There were also sketches
of Imam Samodra, Umar alias Patek, and Umar alias Wayan, plus a
photograph of M. Ali Imron, a younger brother of detained suspect
Amrozi.

The team identified Samodra, Dulmatin and Idris as being those
who assembled the bombs that went off in front of the Sari Club
and inside Paddy's Cafe, both in the packed tourist resort of
Kuta, and in front of the United States Consulate General in
Renon in the provincial capital of Denpasar.

Samodra, who is also known as Al Fatih, Fat, Kudama, Abdul
Aziz, Abu Umar and Heri, is believed to be the leader of the
bombing operation. According to Pastika, Samodra presided over
all of the meetings in Java and Bali to prepare for the attack
and determined the targets of the bombing.

"He is the leader, field commander, planner, and he also has
bomb-assembling skills. In fact, he is connected to the Christmas
bombings in Riau, Batam, Jakarta and West Java," Pastika said.

Born as Abdul Azis, the 35-year-old Sundanese was described as
a highly mobile man with a clear brown complexion, thin
moustache, and always wearing a hat. Police also said he had been
to Afghanistan during the Soviet Union's occupation there.

"He is the most intelligent man in this group. He is a
university graduate who majored in architecture and engineering.
There are indications that he was still in Bali up to Oct. 14, so
for four full days he was watching us doing our work at the crime
scene," Pastika said.

Samodra was said to always have a laptop with him.

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Idris, also known as Jhoni
Hendrawan and Gembrot, was believed to be Samodra's second-in-
command. Reportedly of Malay or Minang ethnicity, who studied in
an Islamic boarding school in Johor, Malaysia. He allegedly
provided financial and logistical support for the operation. He
was also the man who bought the motorbike later used by the
bombers to fled from the crime scene.

The third man was Dulmatin, a 32-year-old Javanese of Arab
descent. The team also identified him as the man who detonated
the bomb.

"We know that the bombs were detonated by a cellular phone. We
also know that it was his cellular phone, and that he was the man
who operated the cellular phone," Pastika explained.

His junior high school teacher in Pemalang, Central Java,
described him as a very intelligent student, and Pastika
described him as an electronics expert. He helped build the bomb
with electronic tools.

Dulmatin attended the junior high school under the name Djoko
Supriyanto. He changed that name to Amar Usman when he was
staying in Malaysia to pursue further education and employment.
Upon returning to Indonesia, he changed his name again to
Muktamar, and later to Dulmatin. His nickname is Matin.

So far, the team had not found any concrete evidence that
linked the bombing operation and Imam Samodra with Jemaah
Islamiyah, Al-Qaeda or Abubakar Ba'asyir, a cleric now detained
for his alleged role in a series of bombings in the past.

Pastika did not specify the identities of the men who actually
brought the bombs into the target area. He said Amrozi, the only
suspect in police detention, refused to disclose who drove the
minivan L-300 inside which the powerful bomb was placed to Kuta.

Pastika said earlier that the bombings were "technically
planned" and precisely timed.

The first bomb exploded in Paddy's Cafe on Oct. 12 at
23.08.25'. This bomb only claimed eight lives. In six seconds,
the second bomb, which was the most powerful, detonated in front
of the Sari Club at 23.08.31'. Four minutes later, another car
bomb exploded separately near to the U.S. Consulate General in
Renon, Denpasar.