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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesians looking for 8 bombmakers |
| 2004-03-26 |
| Police in the Indonesian capital said Wednesday they are searching for eight more terror suspects following the arrest of 10 Muslim radicals for making bombs. They said the original group -- who were arrested after one device detonated accidentally during a bomb-making class in a rented house -- is thought to be linked to a larger terrorist network. "These wanted names were involved in the training and the bomb assembling but when the blast took place, they were not in that house," said Jakarta police spokesman Prasetyo, quoted by Detikcom online news service. Asked in a separate television interview if police have determined whether the 10 are linked to a known terror group, Prasetyo said: "It is true that we are going that way." The spokesman did not mention the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) but said the explosive chemicals -- potassium chlorate and sulphur -- which the group was using were similar to those found in other incidents. Police say the new group intended to use the bombs to battle enemies of Islam. They are expected to be charged under an anti-terror law. Prasetyo, who could not be reached for comment, told ElShinta radio it was unlikely the group was an independent one and it needed a financier. He said its members had admitted conducting bomb-making classes in two or three other places, in addition to the house at Depok on Jakarta's southern outskirts where the bomb went off on Sunday. The incident heightened fears of bombings during the current campaign period for the April 5 general election. Material for nine bombs was found at the Depok house in addition to the one which exploded. Police have quoted key suspect Oman Rahman as cautioning his relatives, in a confiscated letter, against visiting "dangerous" shopping malls. Rahman also urged them not to take part in the election, which he called an "act that runs against the religion." However, national police chief Dai Bachtiar said none of the suspects had told interrogators they aimed to disrupt the election. "They did possess (explosives) and perhaps they were preparing (for an attack) but it is not yet clear what it was aimed at," he told reporters. An unidentified police investigator, quoted by Media Indonesia newspaper, said Rahman had received bomb-making training in Afghanistan. The bomb scare was the second this month after a device containing five sticks of explosives was found at a supermarket in the city of Medan on March 9. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is helping police investigate that attempted attack. Antara news agency, quoting an unnamed intelligence source, said the explosive was made in the United States and might have come from an arsenal in Thailand that was recently robbed. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted] |
| Posted by: Anonymous TROLL 2004-03-26 7:53:25 AM |