Police make more arrests linked to Bali blast case

Police make more arrests linked to Bali blast case

Muhammad Nafik and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Jakarta

The National Police may have scored a major breakthrough with
the arrests of 15 people linked to the Bali bomb blasts so far,
but the achievement has done little to restore a sense of
security among members of the public.

The closure of some international schools in Jakarta for eight
consecutive days is a clear sign that people are still afraid
given that seven other key suspects in the terrorist attack on
Bali over one month ago are still at large

Police claim they have identified the possible hide-outs of
the remaining suspects.

Spokesman for the joint investigative team Brig. Gen. Edward
Aritonang said on Tuesday that in addition to prime suspects
Amrozi and Imam Samudra, police had detained 13 alleged
accomplices who were indirectly involved, seven of whom were
picked up in different parts of the country on Monday.

Police in Pekanbaru, Riau, arrested four people who had
allegedly helped Samudra produce a fake passport under the name
of Faiz Junzhar, which he was to have used to travel to Malaysia.
Among the four was Ernawati, an administration staffer with PT
Indo Jaya, a company that provides passport and other personal
identification document "services".

Apparently, Samudra claimed he wanted to go to Malaysia as a
migrant worker.

The second person arrested was Syahrial, an official with the
Kinapelaen district administration in Riau, who helped Samudra to
obtain an identity card issued by the district.

Two others were Jauhary Effendy and Suhaemi, but the police
failed to spell out their respective roles in procuring the fake
passport.

According to Aritonang, the fake passport was produced in
order to allow Imam to flee the country in the aftermath of the
Bali blasts.

"Unfortunately for him, he was arrested in Merak port before
he could leave the country," said Aritonang.

Regarding the arrest of Agus on Monday, another person linked
to Imam Samudra, Aritonang said that Agus was arrested for having
one FN pistol and one revolver.

In Serang, one day after Agus' arrest, Ujata, Ichwan Fauzi and
Aprianto, who were friends of Agus, were arrested by the West
Java police and were charged with the possession of explosives
that were allegedly to have been used to bomb the Bank Central
Asia branch office in Serang, Banten.

"They are being questioned over the possession of eight
kilograms of potassium, which was to be used in making the next
bomb. The target was to have been the BCA branch," said Aritonang
during a teleconference with journalists in Bali.

However, the motive behind the planned attack remains unclear.

In Batam, the police arrested two other people linked to the
Bali bomb blasts, who were identified only as Chalil and Lucas.

So far they have been charged with customs violations. The
police refused to give any further details.

Meanwhile back to Jakarta, Imam Samudra was declared mentally
and physically fit on Tuesday after undergoing a medical
examination by police physicians.

Following the examination, the police are now free to continue
their questioning of Iman, and the investigation into his role as
well as the details of past bomb blasts targeting churches in
several places, including Batam and Pekanbaru.

Regarding possible links between Al-Qaeda and the Imam Samudra
group, as has been suggested by Time magazine in its latest
edition, Aritonang said that the police had yet to find any
links.

The mass circulation magazine, citing various intelligence
sources, reported that Imam Samudra was merely a field operative,
while the real masterminds were senior Al-Qaeda operatives
Syafullah from Yemen, Malaysian national Zubair, and one Syawal,
reportedly an Indonesian hard-liner.