Police identify third Bali suicide bomber
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Police said on Saturday they had identified the third suicide bomber of the Oct. 1 bomb attacks on Bali, as efforts in the manhunt for Noordin M. Top and other terrorists continued.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said that the third suicide bomber was Aip Hidayat, and he was a resident of Pamarikan, Ciamis regency, West Java. He was the one who blew up Raja's restaurant in Kuta, Bali.
Three suicide bombers almost simultaneously attacked three restaurants packed with Saturday diners in early October, killing 20 people. This was the second bomb attack on Bali after the first in 2002, which killed 202 people.
Following the death of Malaysian bombmaker Azahari bin Husin, one of the most wanted terrorists in Asia, during a Nov. 9 raid in Batu, East Java, the police announced that they had identified two of the three bombers and it was confirmed that they were the followers of Azahari after a video found in Azahari's hideout with statements from the three bombers was discovered. The first two bombers were identified as Salik M. Firdaus from Majalengka, West Java, who blew up Kafe Nyoman and Misno from Cilacap, Central Java, who blew up Kafe Menega in Jimbaran.
Police work to identify the Bali bombers had helped locate Azahari. It is expected now that Aip has been identified as the third bomber it will help efforts to hunt down Azahari's compatriot Noordin and his followers, some of whom have received intensive training from Azahari to assemble bombs and launch terror attacks. Both Azahari and Noordin were considered important figures in regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah.
Aryanto claimed that the police did not have sufficient data on Aip yet as the investigation was still in process.
"We managed to identify him after we questioned people we had arrested in relation to the second Bali blast. We're now comparing DNA samples from the family as well to confirm the bomber's identity," Aryanto said.
He said that the DNA test results would be released in a few days.
Meanwhile, police in Central Java and East Java continued their search for Noordin and his followers on Saturday.
Noordin, who escaped a Nov. 9 police raid in Semarang, Central Java, is believed to be still hiding somewhere in the province or to have moved to neighboring East Java.
According to newsportal detik.com, the police arrested six men who had possible links with Noordin during an intensive search on Friday and Saturday morning in Central Java.
The police's elite Detachment 88 antiterror unit, took with them two terror suspects allegedly involved in the Oct. 1 Bali blast in the weekend search in Central Java.
There were rumors on Saturday morning that Noordin had been caught in the Central Java town of Temanggung, but local police chief Widiyanto Poesoko denied it, although he acknowledged that members of Detachment 88 conducted a sweeping operation on Friday evening.