Police suspect suicide bombers behind blast

Police suspect suicide bombers behind blast

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta/Bandung/Cirebon/Denpasar

Police are trying to verify their suspicions that two suicide
bombers were behind Thursday's attack outside the Australian
Embassy that left nine people dead and over 180 injured.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung
Sudjono said the police were still examining body parts that had
been sent to the Police Hospital in East Jakarta, which he
believed belonged to the perpetrators of the bombing.

"We suspect they are not victims ... because we believe they
were inside a truck they were using to carry out the attack when
the bomb exploded," Suyitno said.

He said the police had earlier believed the body parts
belonged to three people suspected of conducting the attack. But
after examining the body parts in the hospital, the police
identified another victim of the blast as Suryatno. His family
has claimed the body parts for burial, Suyitno said without
elaborating.

He added that his officers were now matching the DNA of the
two bodies, with members of their families, who reside in an
undisclosed town in East Java.

Journalists were a photograph taken from a video tape made by
a camera placed outside the embassy in which a silver box van is
traveling along Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said toward Menteng. Suyitno said
the camera also showed the truck make a U-turn in front of the
Kuningan Plaza office building. It stopped in front of the
embassy, where a police truck was parked. However, this picture
was not shown to the press.

"Within seconds, the van blew up," Suyitno said.

The camera recoded the van stopping at 10:34 a.m., according
to Suyitno.

Suyitno said he suspected the perpetrators of the bombing were
linked to fugitive Malaysian bomb makers Azahari bin Husin and
Noordin Moh. Top, who are believed to have also masterminded the
Bali bombings in 2002 and the attack on JW Marriot Hotel in
Jakarta in 2003.

"The terror suspects we have detained have told us there were
three new recruits of Jamaah Islamiyah who were ready to conduct
suicide bombings against particular targets. We suspect that some
of the body parts we found at the scene belong to them," Suyitno
added.

The police arrested five suspects in Sukaharjo, Surakarta, and
Central Jakarta in April who were allegedly involved in planning
and preparing the Bali and the Marriott bombings.

The police said one of the five people who was identified only
by his initials, US, was a citizen of a neighboring country. The
remaining suspects were identified as AD, BA, UM and FH. All of
them, together with Saiffudin alias Abu Fida, and three other
suspects who were arrested recently, would be of assistance in
helping the police capture Azahari and Noordin.

"When we tried to catch them, three of the suspects managed to
escape. The three are all the suicide bombers recruited by
Azahari and Noordin, and they have been in frequent contact with
one another," said Suyitno.

The police have also concluded that the bomb was made of TNT
and sulfur.

Australian forensic experts said the car bomb consisted of
about 200 kilograms of potassium chloride.

On Friday, people continued to expressed condolences to the
victims and condemn the terror attack on television and radio.

Exhortations to fight against terrorism were also voiced in
sermons at mosques during Friday prayers.

"We deplore anyone who commits such inhuman acts. We hope
there will be no more tragedies like this, and that those who
perpetrated it realize they have betrayed the teachings of their
religion," said the iman at the Dharmala Building on Jl.
Sudirman.

In Denpasar, dozens of people gathered to denounce the attack.

They assembled in front of the memorial to the 202 people who
perished in the Oct. 12, 2002, bombings.

"The National Police chief must resign," one protester
shouted.

In Bandung, representatives of student, farmers, and street
singers' organizations demonstrated in front of the legislative
building to condemn the bombing. A similar rally was also held by
religious leaders, politicians and journalists in Cirebon.

"No religion can justify bombings. So, I call on the nation to
unite to face the threat," said Muslim cleric Adib Rofi'uddin.