Police link Gun Gun with blast

JAKARTA: Alleged terrorist Rusmawan 'Gun Gun' Gunawan, one of six students deported from Pakistan in December, is suspected of being involved in the JW Marriott Hotel bombing that killed 13 people on Aug. 5, 2003, a police officer says.

Brig. Gen. Pranowo, a director for antiterrorism of the Detective and Criminal Unit of the National Police, however, declined to reveal details of Gun Gun's involvement in the terrorist attack.

He said police have until April to further investigate the involvement of Gun Gun and his friends in a series of bomb attacks in the country.

"We have four months from December 2003 to investigate them," Pranowo said.

Six Indonesian students, including Gun Gun, a younger brother of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali, now in United States custody, were deported from Pakistan on Dec. 12, 2003 for overstaying.

Police, however, detained them when they arrived here and declared them terrorist suspects on Dec. 18. --Antara