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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesians hunting for 5 JI car bombs |
| 2005-06-13 |
| Troops are scouring the West Java city of Indramayu for five cars carrying bombs made by al-Qaeda-backed militants linked to the Bali bombings. Military authorities believe the bombs were made by recruits of Malaysian terrorism fugitive Noordin Top, who is accused of being one of the masterminds behind a spate of recent bombings in Indonesia. The Koran Temp newspaper cited a military telegram in Indramayu that carried details of the five suspect cars. The chief of the Indramayu district military command Lt-Col Bambang Heriyadi had confirmed the memo's existence, the newspaper reported. "All military personnel have been ordered to be more watchful and vigilant in monitoring strangers. "This is an early prevention step against bombing threats," the paper quoted Lt-Col Heriyadi saying. He said all five cars had Jakarta-issued licence plates. The city of Indramayu is located on the northern coast of Java island, 175km east of Jakarta. Police have said Noordin Top and fellow Malaysian Azahari bin Husin are among the perpetrators of a series of blasts in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali atrocity that killed 202 people, the 2003 Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta which claimed 12 lives, and last year's blast near the Australian embassy that killed nine. Police have warned that Azahari and Top, alleged key members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah militant terror network, are currently recruiting guerrillas and planning another attack. Last week, an Indonesian court jailed Top's wife for three years for helping him evade a police manhunt. Australian security forces also said last week that they had received intelligence reports suggesting that plans by terrorists to carry out attacks in Indonesia were in advanced stages. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |