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| Southeast Asia |
| Man Confesses Bali Blasts Role |
| 2003-01-14 |
| Indonesian police arrested two more suspects in the Bali bombings and one has confessed to playing a major planning and operational role in the Oct. 12 attack that killed 192 people, authorities said Tuesday. Senior police officials said Ali Imron was the "field coordinator" of the blasts and is the younger brother of two suspects arrested soon after the explosions ripped through the resort island's nightclub district. Three in one family, Mom must be proud Imron and another suspect identified only as Mubarak were picked up by authorities on a remote Indonesian island on Monday, apparently trying to flee Indonesia. Imron quickly confessed under interrogation, said police Gen. I Made Pastika, who is heading the investigation. "Imron has admitted to being connected with the Bali bombings," Pastika said. Indo truncheons or is he just so proud of what they did he can't wait to take credit for it? Imron admitted to driving a minivan packed with explosives to a road junction close to the Sari nightclub, where most of the victims were killed, Pastika said. He then was replaced by a second driver who parked the vehicle outside the club just before detonation, he said. Being a coordinator, he was too valuable to risk by getting close to the blast zone. Those homemade triggers are tricky. Pastika said Imron also attended a key meeting in central Java province to plan the bombings. "Therefore his role is very important," Pastika told Jakarta's El-Shinta radio station. And he's talking too. Nice catch. Lt. Gen. Erwin Mapaseng, chief of national police detectives, said Imron was the "field coordinator" of the bombings while Mubarak was involved in financing the attacks. He did not elaborate. So far, 17 men have been arrested in the Bali case, including two of Imron's older brothers. The first suspect arrested in the case was his brother Amrozi, who is accused of buying bomb-making materials and the minivan used in the attack. Imron's other brother, Ali Gufron, alias Mukhlas, allegedly helped plan the attack and is believed to be a senior figure in Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic group based in Southeast Asia that allegedly is linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network. Foreign governments and some Indonesian officials have blamed Jemaah Islamiyah for the Bali bombings. The first trials of those accused in the Bali bombing are expected to start in February on the island, police say. The defendants will likely face possible death sentences under an anti-terrorism decree approved last year by President Megawati Sukarnoputri. They want to get the tourist industry back, so these guys will be fast tracked to death row. Happy, happy, joy, joy. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 Another factor is the help of the Australian Federal Police, who have been able to monitor and track phone calls and other useful stuff the Indons can't do. |
| Posted by: Paul 2003-01-15 03:51:35 |
| #5 Emphasis on the "brutal"... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-01-14 14:19:43 |
| #4 Here's another factor - it's generally true that most Southeast Asian police spend all their time just sitting around watching the protection money roll in. But when something happens that requires them to get up off their butts, they can be brutally efficient! |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2003-01-14 13:48:28 |
| #3 Fred: Thanks for this quick, lucid answer... The sad, sad truth is that it takes atrocities like Bali's sometimes to get people off their rear ends and doing something decisive about the lunatics with the bombs. |
| Posted by: Nik Karanikos 2003-01-14 12:05:58 |
| #2 The Indon coppers were a pleasant surprise after the Bali bombings. Up until that point the entire nation looked like it was either in denial of the existence of terrorism in Indonesia, or actively on the Bad Guys' side. See especially remarks and actions of Hamzah Haz, the vice president, who was fond of visiting jailed jihadis and pronouncing his solidarity with them. He's still around, by the way, but discredited, which means he'll keep his mouth shut for a few months until the heat's off. I think the vicious nature of the bombing is what woke Indonesia, coupled with the obvious prevarications of some people pretty high up in the government - Haz, of course, but also prominent MPs and other apologists. Like some of the more stupid American fifth-columnists, they didn't notice when the wind changed and went right on with business as usual. Bashir, who's the root of all evil in this story, made things worse for the Islamist side by blaming "infidels" for the attack, suggesting that the relatives of the victims convert to Islam as soon as possible, and later threatening to destroy Australia. Pretty bloodthirsty for someone who went into the hospital because his little heart was going pitty-pat, rather than going into custody like the common folk. He's managed to make himself look both sinister and ridiculous at the same time, and I think the Indons have written him off as a holy man and potential khalif. Bali itself is primarily Hindu, and a Buddhist-influenced version of Hindusim at that, so they haven't felt like they have a dog in the Islamist-Western fight. Since most of the rest of Indonesia is Muslim, with the sort of economic development usually found in Muslim-dominated area, Bali's tourist industry accounts for a significant amount of change, and the bully boys managed to hurt the entire nation at once. As with much of life in Southeast Asia, a lot depends on who's in charge of an action. Pastika seems to be exceptionally competent. If the investigation was being handled by the army, for instance, I doubt if it would have rooted out as many bad guys as it has. Having the Australians and the U.S. looking over their shoulder may have given them the impetus to excel, and having Singapore and Malaysia humming a chorus of "Toldja so! Toldja so!" has also provided a bit encouragement. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-01-14 11:05:48 |
| #1 I'm sorry if I sound naive, but how can the Balinese arrest this whole bunch of baddies so quickly after the atrocity and, at the same time, appear so incompetent in gathering the kind of intelligence that could have averted the massacre? Such quick round-up of human-killing suspects demonstrates either sharp, effective, focused police work or somebody dropping off a list of perps at the Bali police HQ on the way to lunch... If it is the former condition that characterizes Bali's law enforcement, how come they were caught so fatally unprepared? Again, a naive question.... |
| Posted by: Nik Karanikos 2003-01-14 10:07:44 |