Police raid homes linked to Bali suspect

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.