Police raid homes linked to Bali suspect

I Wayan Juniartha and Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The police on Saturday raided houses on Saturday in Denpasar and Lamongan regency, where terror suspect Amrozi bin H. Nurhasyim was arrested, as part of a hunt for more evidence linked to the Bali bombings

The spokesman for the police joint investigating team into the Bali bombing, Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said the police had found traces of explosives in a house in Denpasar that was believed to have been used by bombers to assemble the bomb.

"We discovered traces of explosive materials in the house, so we strongly believe the bombs that exploded in Kuta were assembled there," Aritonang said.

Investigators are almost certain the traces are residues from bomb-making raw materials, but their belief still has to be confirmed through laboratory tests, he said.

Edward said the laboratory tests were necessary to identify the chemicals involved and compare them with the materials Amrozi had bought in the Tidar Kimia chemical store in Surabaya, East Java.

Police claim that Amrozi bought four chemical substances, namely sulfur, ammonium, fluorine and chlorate (CLO3), from Tidar Kimia.

Police on Saturday also searched the home of Muhammad Zakaria, the head of the Al Islam boarding school in Tenggulun, Solokuro, Lamongan regency, which Amrozi often visited, as well as other houses in the boarding school complex.

Officers took away several items from the houses, including nine old video cassettes, documents, photo albums and other things.

"We will bring these to Denpasar for further examination," Adj. Comr. Harsono, a member of the investigating team, told Antara.

The joint investigating team in Denpasar on Saturday questioned Zakaria and Silvester Tendean, the owner of the chemical shop from which Amrozi acquired the chemicals.

"They were brought here as witnesses. We want to know how much they know about Amrozi's involvement in the bombing," Aritonang told reporters at the weekend.

Aritonang said that Silvester Tendean remained a witness in the bombing case, although the Surabaya Police had named him a suspect for falsifying the receipt for a purchase of chemicals.

Meanwhile, Zakaria told reporters in Denpasar on Saturday that he went to Denpasar of his own initiative to make sure whether Amrozi was really involved in the bombing.

He said he had known Amrozi since 1994, but he did not know the suspect well.

Amrozi was named a suspect after the police claimed to have confirmation that he was the last owner of the Mitsubishi L-300 van used in the bombing.

As of Saturday, Amrozi was still being questioned by members of the joint investigating team to get as much as information as they could on the bombing, and to clarify all the information that had been given thus far, Aritonang said.

It is not yet clear, however, whether Amrozi was accompanied by a lawyer during the investigation.

Aritonang claimed that Amrozi was accompanied by a lawyer, but he said he forgot the name of the lawyer and where the lawyer came from.

Nevertheless, a source said the police were still looking for lawyers for Amrozi. Police had asked local lawyer Agus Samijaya to represent Amrozi. However, Agus had yet to agree to the request.