JAKARTA — Indonesian police said on Friday they had arrested several senior members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror organisation. Police spokesman Brigadier-General Edward Aritonang denied local media speculation that one of the suspects was the group's fugitive head, Hambali.
| That's too bad. That's the guy they need to catch. But they'll probably have to go to Pakistan to get him... |
He declined to give any more details, including how many suspects were arrested, saying that police are still after more suspects and did not want to 'jeopardise' ongoing investigations. He added that police would 'soon' release more information. Police have arrested scores of the group's operatives since the Oct 12 blasts, but have said that several key figures remain at large.
Followup, from Jakarta Post. This is the article Steve was referring to in the comments. Perhaps I should change the headline to read "Tragic Suicide in Jakarta Crapper"...Suspect Ihwanuddin grabbed an M-16 rifle from a policeman who was questioning him and ran to the bathroom. Police fired tear gas at Ihwanuddin, 28, but he was later found dead in the bathroom with a gunshot wound in his chest, it said. "He indeed killed himself," Jakarta police chief, Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara, told reporters.
| "Yup. That boy's doorknob dead." |
The two other suspects were identified as Pranata Yuda and Suyono, who were arrested on Tuesday in the town of Bekasi just east of Jakarta. Ihwanuddin was arrested in South Jakarta before dawn on Friday. Police said Yuda had admitted to being a regional leader of JI and that both Yuda and Ihwanudin had trained in Afghanistan and fought against the Soviets there. Yuda was also a military instructor at the Hudaibiyah camp in the Southern Philippines, they said.
| That would be one of MILF's camps, I'd reckon — not that they train terrorists, mind you... |
The three "are suspected of having planned terrorist acts in Jakarta and several other areas in a campaign of killings and bombings," the release said. Police found an M-16 gun, four bullets, two binoculars, JI documents, a booklet of church service schedules as well as CDs and cassettes on JI from a house belonging to Yuda's brother. At Ihwanuddin's house they found an M-16 rifle, one bullet cache and 1,640 bullets. |