Police say Hambali still in Indonesia, seeking funds for new attacks
Police say Hambali still in Indonesia, seeking funds for new attacks
Agence France-Presse, Denpasar, Bali
Asia's most wanted man Hambali is still in Indonesia and police are hopeful of catching him, a top investigator said Wednesday.
But I Made Mangku Pastika, who led the probe into the Bali bombings which killed 202 people, also warned that terror suspects are seeking funds for fresh operations -- possibly another bombing.
Pastika, addressing a joint press conference with Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, said Hambali is "somewhere in Indonesia" but declined to elaborate.
Hambali, an Indonesian also known as Riduan Isamuddin, is believed to be the link man between al-Qaeda and the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror group which staged the Bali blasts last October and a string of other attacks.
As JI's former operations chief Hambali is said to have played a key role in directing the Bali attack and the Christmas Eve bombings of churches and priests which killed 19 people in 2000.
Police had previously said Hambali may have fled to Pakistan.
More than 30 people are in custody for the Bali blasts after a joint Indonesia-Australian inquiry, including a key suspect called Idris whose arrest was announced this week. But police are looking for several more.
"The hunt for the Bali bombers has never been stopped," Keelty said. Police "are committed to hunting down these people wherever they might be."
Pastika said suspects still at large are "looking for money now" and the next attack could also be a bombing. "But so far we do not know where the operation will be."
The suspects use the term "amaliah", Indonesian for "charitable" to refer to their operation, he said.
"There is a change in the mind of terrorists (in Indonesia). They are more radical and more committed," Pastika said.
Keelty said the unemployed, poor, and those seeking recognition are prey for fundamentalists.
"The focus now needs to be on education and minimizing the number or potential number of people who might take up the cause of fundamentalism. Remember that this is not directed to modern Islam. This is directed to fundamentalism," Keelty said.
Pastika called Idris a "key player" in the Bali bombings. Police describe him as deputy field commander in charge of logistics and accommodation.
They say he also used a mobile phone to detonate a bomb outside the US consulate in Bali almost simultaneously with the nightspot blasts. No one was hurt in the consulate blast.
Police say JI waged the attacks on Western holidaymakers crowded into the two nightspots in revenge for perceived injustices to Muslims worldwide.