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New raids as bomb suspect tries to save himself
Police believe newly captured Bali bomb suspect Ali Imron is lying about his role in the attack and has informed on two alleged accomplices in a bid to weaken the case against him.Did someone explain the concept of "death penalty" to him? They say Ali Imron, 30 - arrested on an island off the east coast of Borneo on Monday after a three-month hunt - has denied parking a van loaded with explosives outside the Sari Club, where it exploded on October 12, killing nearly 200 people, including 88 Australians. He claims he drove the van to within 800 metres of the Sari Club and another man, named "Jimmy", then drove the van to the club. But General I Made Mangku Pastika, head of the bombing investigation, said yesterday: "We believe he is lying." Police say Ali Imron informed on two friends, both teachers in an Islamic school, during his interrogation this week. As a result police raided the home of physics teacher Azhari Dipo Kusumo in Ali Imron's village of Tenggulun in the Lamongan district of East Java. Investigators found eight nine-millimetre pistols, four revolvers, 2450 rounds of ammunition and six 25-kilogram sacks of potassium chloride and a plastic pipe, which they said were intended for a bomb. Sounds like teaching aids for a Islamic school to me In the nearby home of a man named only as Amin, they found an FN military pistol which Ali Imron said belonged to him. Police said they were seeking another three weapons that Ali Imron claimed were hidden in the village. Ali Imron's brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas, a senior member of the outlawed Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), are in detention in Bali and will be among the first suspects to face trial. Amrozi is alleged to have procured chemicals used in the attack and Mukhlas is suspected of being the mastermind. Their trial could start as early as next month. In Canberra, the Australian Federal Police said there was no evidence of a link between the Bali bombings and JI's spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir. Bashir is believed to have split with the JI in the months leading up to the Bali bombing, after arguing against carrying out such an operation amid the tougher security environment that followed the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. I thought the really radical fundi's had split into a splinter group from JI because JI wasn't bloodthirsty enough. Posted by: Steve 2003-01-15 |
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