Wife of McDonald's bomb suspect quizzed

Wife of McDonald's bomb suspect quizzed

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Police here on Tuesday questioned Panca Budi Yani Akhiriyah, 36,
the second wife of terror suspect Agung Abdul Hamid, the alleged
mastermind of the 2002 bombing of a McDonald's outlet in
Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Her face veiled, Panca Budi arrived at Yogyakarta Police
Headquarters at about 9:30 a.m., accompanied by her lawyer Daris
Purba. She was questioned for two hours by officers.

Panca Budi, who holds an engineering degree, could be charged
with aiding her husband if there is sufficient evidence, police
said.

Agung was arrested in Yogyakarta on Oct. 3 after having
disappeared for two years following the bombing at the McDonald's
outlet, which killed three people. He was flown to Makassar last
week for further investigation.

After the questioning, Panca Budi again denied she knew the
whereabouts of her husband or anything of his activities for the
two years he was a fugitive.

She said she had met Agung only once at a hotel in Yogyakarta
since the bombing in Makassar, and that briefly.

Panca Budi also said she believed her husband was not involved
in the bombing.

However, Yogyakarta Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Endi
Sutendi said a motorcycle used by Agung at the time of his arrest
belonged to a man identified as Fadli, who bought it under the
name Panca Budi.

According to Panca Budi, Fadli used her name in order to
purchase the motorcycle on credit from the dealership.

"We will summon Fadli as a witness in the case. We don't know
when," Endi said.

In addition to Panca Budi, three other witnesses -- Suwarno,
Ponijan and Ulfah Ichsan -- were also questioned on Tuesday by
the Yogyakarta Police.

The three allegedly were in contact with Agung while he was
hiding in Yogyakarta, Endi said.

"They claim they only learned that Agung Abdul Hamid was
wanted by the police after reading newspaper reports on his
arrest," he said.