Samudra principal planner of Bali bombing: Police chief

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Jakarta

Imam Samudra, the alleged mastermind of the deadly Bali bomb explosions, has confessed planning the Oct. 12 attacks that killed over 190 people and injured more than 300 others.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said after a closed- door encounter with Samudra on Friday that the suspect was the key planner of the weekend bombing.

"Imam Samudra was the key planner, while his accomplices Amrozi and Dulmatin were field operatives," said Da'i during an unscheduled inspection of the Cilegon police station, Banten, on Friday morning.

According to Da'i, Samudra told him that holy war or jihad was the motive behind the bombings.

Samudra, who goes by six aliases, was arrested on Thursday afternoon at Merak port while on a bus heading to Sumatra.

In a separate press conference on Friday afternoon, police spokesman Insp. Gen. Basyir Barmawi said that the Bali bombings were carried out by two different groups led by Samudra.

According to Basyir, Samudra directly supervised one group, dubbed the Banten group, consisting of Samudra himself, Abdul Rauf alias Syam, Wahyudi alias Andre Octavia, Amin and Iqbal.

Syam, Wahyudi and Amin allegedly carried out surveillance on Paddy's Cafe and the Sari Club before the bombings were executed.

Meanwhile, Iqbal, the detonator of the bomb, died in the explosion in Paddy's Cafe. It was a suicide bombing, in which Iqbal carried a bag containing the bomb and later detonated it.

"Samudra called it a syahid bomb," said Basyir Barmawi, referring to an Islamic term for when people were ready to die for virtue and God.

The second group, dubbed the Lamongan group, was commanded by Amrozi and consisted of Dulmatin, Amrozi's younger brother Ali Imron and Idris.

Dulmatin was the bomb maker, Idris arranged the group's accommodation in Bali, Ali Imron was the field coordinator, and Amrozi himself provided the vehicle and the materials for the bombs, said Da'i Bachtiar.

In total, based upon Samudra's confession, the two groups had a total of 12 members, said Da'i.

Five of them had been arrested, namely Amrozi, Samudra, Syam, Wahyudi and Amin. The remaining seven were being hunted down by the police, said Basyir.

Meanwhile, from the 32-year-old Samudra police confiscated a new passport under the name of Faiz Yunzhar, believed to be another alias of Samudra's, said the chief of the police team investigating the Bali bombing, Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika.

It is believed that Samudra was going to use the passport to flee the country, a plan thwarted by his arrest.

Pastika also said that the police were still searching for a computer notebook, which was often used by Samudra.

"If it is found, more information regarding the bomb blasts could be revealed," said Pastika.

Da'i said that after the three bomb blasts in Renon, Paddy's Cafe and the Sari Club, Samudra left Bali for Banyuwangi in East Java, then Surabaya and finally Banten.

"During his flight, he often dropped by internet shops to get updates regarding the police investigation," said Da'i.

Samudra, according to Da'i, wanted to go to Palembang, where his accomplices had promised him a safe hideout.

According to Basyir, Samudra's desire to wage a holy war came after his stay in Malaysia in the 1990s, during which time he often used the internet. Having spent a lot of his time surfing the internet, Samudra became convinced that Muslims around the world were being subjected to many injustices, said Basyir.

"He then decided to wage a holy war of his own volition," said Basyir.

According to Basyir, Samudra and the group were also responsible for a string of bomb blasts during Christmas and New Year 2000 in parts of West Java, Jakarta, Riau and Batam.

Regarding the funding for the bombing operation, Samudra said that Idris had provided some of the funds.

Other major contributions came from a series of robberies committed by the group.

These included a robbery at the Elita jewelry shop in the Royal trading center in Serang, Banten, at the end of March this year.

The raiders, led by Imam, got away with Rp 400 million in cash and some gold.

Samudra is scheduled to be brought to National Police Headquarters on Saturday for further questioning.

Samudra has until now not been accompanied by a lawyer as the antiterrorism government regulations in lieu of laws provide that a suspect in a terrorism case may not be accompanied by a lawyer during the first seven days of his arrest.