Police name 3 suspects, offer Rp 1b for tip-offs

Police name 3 suspects, offer Rp 1b for tip-offs

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Police named on Tuesday three suspects in Thursday's bomb attack
in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and confirmed the
last two of the nine dead, who had been identified as Armansyah
Putra and Martinus Sitania, were not the bombers.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung
Sudjono identified the three bombing suspects as Akbar, Kobra and
Sudadi and confirmed Armansyah and Martinus were victims in the
blast.

"We are now examining 117 small tissue fragments left after
the remains of Armansyah and Martinus were taken (from the Kramat
Jati Police Hospital in East Jakarta) by their families. We
suspect that these body parts belong to at least one perpetrator
of the blast. However, we must wait for the DNA analysis before
deciding on the number of perpetrators," Suyitno said.

The latest information means there were a total of nine
victims killed in the blast, while least 10 people, including one
or more perpetrators, died in the attack.

Police and media had earlier speculated body fragments found
after the attack, including those of Armansyah and Martinus,
belonged to the bombers.

Suyitno said police came up with the names of three suspects
after finding out all had written letters to their families
stating they were ready to conduct suicide bombings across the
country.

"We took blood samples from three families that had received
letters from the three suspects a few months before the blast. We
have been matching DNA in these samples with the 117 body
fragments found since Saturday. It will take a week to complete
the examination," he said.

National Police Director of Counter-terror Division Brig. Gen.
Pranowo Dahlan said police had concluded some the fragments had
to have belonged to the perpetrators because someone had to be
driving the van.

Suyitno refused to release any of the suspected bombers'
family names or the location of their families' homes but said he
had sent officers to Surakarta to find out more about the
bombing.

In Sukaharjo, Surakarta, in April, police arrested five of
eight suspects allegedly involved in planning and preparing the
Bali bombings and the JW Marriott Hotel attack. They said those
arrested were new recruits of the al-Qaeda-linked terror group
Jamaah Islamiyah.

A high ranking police officer, however, told The Jakarta Post
that at least 10 new suicide bombers, recruited by two Malaysian
fugitives, bomb experts Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh. Top,
remained at large.

Both Azahari and Noordin are believed to have masterminded the
2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people and last year's
Marriott attack that claimed 12 lives.

The authorities have warned that Azahari, Noordin and their
followers are armed with explosives and planning fresh attacks
ahead of the 20 September run off elections.

Police screened on Saturday footage of the embassy explosion
captured by two closed circuit television cameras. It showed a
white Daihatsu van they believe carried the bomb.

Later, police said the van was a 1990 model and announced they
had been able to trace the vehicle's chassis number.

Suyitno said police were now hunting down the last owner of
the van after retrieving information from a previous owner,
identified only as ES.

They believed finding the final owner of the van was the key
to capturing the other members of the terror group, he said.

Suyitno said police would soon disseminate pictures of the
three suspects across the country.

"We will pay a price of Rp 1 billion for information leading
to the capture of either Azahari or Noordin, and Rp 500 million
for information about each of the other three suspects," he said.