Police name four more suspects in Makassar blasts

Police name four more suspects in Makassar blasts

The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Solo/Yogyakarta

In another breakthrough, police investigators in the South
Sulawesi capital of Makassar named on Wednesday four more
suspects in last week's deadly bombings of a McDonald's
restaurant and a car dealership there.

South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said the
four new suspects were identified as Hisbullah Rasyid, Dahlan,
Lukman and Suryadi.

"Police have detained two of the four suspects," Firman told a
news conference at his office in Makassar. The two were
identified as Suryadi and Lukman.

The naming of four new suspects brought the number of suspects
in the Dec. 5 bombings to 10.

Meanwhile, conflicting reports surfaced Wednesday on Agung
Hamid, with police in Solo, Central Java, claiming to have
arrested the alleged mastermind of the Makassar bombings, while
police in Makassar vehemently denied the report, insisting that
the Afghanistan-trained bomb expert was still at large.

Solo Police Chief Sr. Comr Hasyim Irianto insisted on
Wednesday that his people had captured Agung Hamid in Gerbang
Kertosuro in Sukoarjo, Solo, and flew him to Bali on Wednesday
morning along with Mukhlas, the alleged operations chief of
Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), and his accomplices.

But Firman denied the report on the arrest of Agung Hamid, a
suspected member of the radical Laskar Jundullah group, saying
the police still were tracking him down across the country.

"We have not yet arrested him. He is still the subject of a
police manhunt," he said.

Firman said that police there were holding six of the 10
suspects and were still hunting down the remaining three -- Agung
Hamid, Hisbullah and Dahlan.

According to Firman, the questioning of Suryadi has helped
police to swiftly uncover the Agung Hamid-led plotters behind the
Makassar blasts.

The decision to declare the four suspects was also based on
information provided by Suryadi and several other witnesses, he
added.

Suryadi was arrested as a suspect for his alleged involvement
in a recent robbery case in Manado, North Sulawesi. He was flown
on Tuesday night to Makassar from Jakarta, where he had been held
at the National Police Headquarters.

Lukman was meanwhile arrested early on Wednesday at Sidrap
regency, South Sulawesi, Firman said.

"Based on our investigations, the four new suspects were
involved in the planning and execution of the bombings. It was
proven that they attended meetings (to discuss the plans) in
September and October in Makassar," he said.

He accused the four of being involved in seeking funds,
assembling bombs and finding locations in Makassar to attack.

Firman also warned that Agung Hamid was fleeing with at least
four bombs ready for detonation in certain places.

"It is based on data obtained by the investigators," he added.

He said the key suspect and his accomplices assembled at least
10 bombs and that six of them had been detonated -- two in
Makassar, two in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso and two others
in Manado.

"So Agung Hamid still has four bombs to detonate," Firman
said, adding that the police were intensifying coordination among
the security authorities to anticipate further bomb attacks.

He admitted the police had no knowledge of the real motives
behind the Makassar blasts. The investigators have linked the
explosions with the Oct. 12 Bali bombings that killed over 190
people mostly foreigners.

In Yogyakarta, Agung Hamid's mother-in-law Siti Jumu Wariyah
alias Mrs. Surahmat, 70, came to the local office of the Legal
Aid Institute (LBH), complaining about insecurity after the
police raided her family home in Serangan, Notoprajan, on Monday
to search for the suspect.

She accused police of not showing a "sympathetic" attitude
during the raid by jumping over the fence and knocking on the
door very rudely. "At the time, our family panicked because there
was a threat to break in the door," Siti said.

She denied knowing the whereabouts of Hamid, but assured the
police that her family members were prepared to cooperate with
the investigators.

Responding to the complaint, Budi Hartono of the LBH
criticized the way the police raided the house, saying it was a
"bad precedent" for the security authorities in Yogyakarta in
dealing with such a case.

He urged the police to act on the basis of proper procedures
and not to involve so many officers in a raid. "Our client is
ready to cooperate with the legal authorities," he added.