Police link six suspects to Jamaah Islamiyah

P.C. Naommy, Jakarta

National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday that the six terrorist suspects arrested in Sukoharjo, Central Java, on Wednesday came from the same group as the Malaysian bomb experts Noordin Mohammad Top and Azahari bin Husin who are still at large.

Azahari and Noordin are both linked to the terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which has been blamed for the Bali bombing on Oct. 12, 2002 and the JW Marriott Hotel Jakarta attack on Aug. 5 last year.

"They (the six suspects) were in the group executing the Bali bombing, the Marriott and other previous bomb attacks. And they were affiliated with the planning and execution of those bombings. But we still have to develop the investigation to know their exact roles in those attacks," said Da'i.

The police said one of the six people, who was only identified by his initials, US, was a citizen of "a neighboring country". The remaining suspects were identified as AD, BA, MT, UM, FH and YN.

The questioning of the suspects at the Central Java Police Headquarters has revealed that they were involved in plotting last year's bomb attack outside the United Nation's Building in Central Jakarta.

The capture of the six suspects came after an intensive interrogation of Dahlan, who was arrested in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara on Sunday.

"Dahlan is a member of a group planning bomb attacks, and also a member of the Azahari and Noordin groups," said Da'i.

Director of the Antiterror Division Brig. Gen. Pranowo had previously said that Dahlan was connected to a man called Adi Suryana, a member of "Group 12", whom the police believe played a role in the planning of all the bomb attacks in this country over the last four years.

Asked about the possibility of terrorist attacks during the presidential election as foreign intelligence agencies previously warned of, Da'i said the country's own intelligence body did not have any reports indicating such an attack.

"But we will take (the foreign) reports into account and we will increase the number of security personnel in public places, as well as to coordinate with groups of temporary civilian militia and private sector security guards," said Da'i.

Da'i said that for the presidential election this Monday, the police have deployed about 200,000 personnel to polling stations. There are over 560,000 polling stations across the country.