Police link Bali bomb suspect to detained cleric

The Jakarta Post, Kuta/Jakarta

Amrozi, the only suspect so far in the Oct. 12 Bali terrorist attacks, told police investigators on Monday that he was a student of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is being detained for his alleged role in the 2000 church bombings and a reported plot to kill President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

However, the investigators said they did not have any evidence linking Ba'asyir, whose move to annul the arrest was quashed by the South Jakarta District Court, to the Bali terrorist attacks, which killed almost 190 people and injured over 300 others, mostly foreigners.

"We have not found any evidence to support allegations that Ba'asyir ordered or gave his blessings to the bombings. There is a missing link that still exists between the bombing and Ba'asyir," Ins. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, head of the multinational investigation team, said on Monday.

Amrozi told police investigators that he was close to Ba'asyir not only when the two were in Malaysia but also when they returned to Indonesia after the fall of former president Soeharto in 1998, Pastika said.

Amrozi also said that during his stay in Malaysia he had attended religious lectures given by Ba'asyir several times.

"Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is a prominent cleric, who has many followers, and one of them is Amrozi. He said he had picked Ba'asyir up several times at Ngruki, Surakarta, and accompanied him to the Al-Islam pesantren. Amrozi claimed that the last time he met Ba'asyir was six months ago," Pastika said.

According to Pastika, Ba'asyir was one of the founders of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) in Malaysia. JI does not exist in Indonesia, it only exists in Malaysia, Pastika said.

"In Indonesia, Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia (MMI) was established by Ba'asyir. JI and MMI are different and their names are different, but the ideology and teachings of these two organizations are quite similar."

Singapore and Malaysia have said that Ba'asyir, 64, is the spiritual leader of JI, which is believed to have links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Pastika said 10 people were suspected of carrying out the bombing, all of whom were Indonesians. There was no evidence so far of foreign involvement, he said.

"We are conducting a search for them in Indonesia because the news came out fast and they all fled," he said when asked if the suspects were believed to be still in the country.

"Amrozi said he and his group wanted to kill as many Americans as possible," Pastika said.

"After he heard that a lot of Australians were killed (instead), he said he was unhappy," said Pastika, adding that Amrozi showed no remorse over his actions.

Pastika described Amrozi as a calm, hard man, who gave the impression that he was not afraid of the legal consequences he could face if he was convicted.

Investigators took two more witnesses to Bali from East Java on Monday. One witness, Taksir, was picked up on Sunday from his house in Tenggulun in the Solokuro district of Lamongan regency.

Taksir allegedly helped Amrozi take out several items from the Mitsubishi L-300 minivan, which was later used in the bombing.

"The minivan was stripped of its air conditioner, cassette deck and back seats to minimize its loss. Apparently the vehicle was being prepared for the bombing. Taksir had bought the air conditioner," Pastika said.

Taksir's account could play a vital role in proving that the minivan was being prepared for the bombing operation.

Taksir, as well as the parts taken out of the minivan, were taken to Bali Police Headquarters at about 4:00 p.m. An investigator said that Taksir ran a car repair service from his house.

The second witness is reportedly a barber, who cut Amrozi's hair twice within the week after the sketches of the suspects were released.

"His testimony will be substantial in demonstrating that after we released the sketches, Amrozi had tried to avoid arrest by changing his appearance," Pastika said.

Meanwhile, police in East Java found two plastic pipes filled with bullets, which were buried in a forest near Amrozi's home village in Tenggulun on Monday.

A bomb squad examined the pipes, which were approximately one meter long and 30 centimeters in diameter. Police are questioning a man who is believed to have seen the pipes being buried.

In Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Monday that the bombing had been planned in Surakarta, Central Java.

"Before carrying out the bombings in Bali, Amrozi held four meetings in Surakarta in early September," Da'i told the legislature in Jakarta. He did not say if Bashir or his followers were present at the meetings.