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.