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.