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| Alleged Bali blast mastermind Samudra, center, surrounded by police officers |
CILEGON,
Indonesia, November 22 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A key
suspect in the Bali bombing has confessed to ordering the attack as
part of a holy war to avenge injustice against Muslims, Indonesian
police said Friday, November 22.
They
said Indonesian citizen Imam Samudra, who was arrested Thursday,
November 21, selected a bar full of Westerners as the target on the
resort island.
He
then ordered his subordinates to mount the October 12 attack which
killed more than 190 people, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Police
also disclosed Friday that one of the bombers, identified as Iqbal,
had killed himself in the blast in a suicide mission.
Australian
federal police, who are part of the multinational inquiry, hailed
Samudra's arrest as a major breakthrough.
But
federal police Commissioner Mick Keelty warned in Sydney that most of
the explosive chemicals purchased to help build the Bali bomb were
still missing.
Indonesian
Inspector General I Made Mangku Pastika, the police officer leading
the probe, said in Bali that police were still hunting seven people,
including two unspecified "new names."
Samudra
was paraded briefly for photographers outside the police station in
this west Java town.
National
police chief Da'i Bachtiar interviewed Samudra, 32, who is also
allegedly a leading member of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
Afterwards,
Bachtiar said that apart from Bali, Samudra also admitted involvement
in one of the Christmas Eve church bombings in Indonesia in 2000 and
in a Jakarta shopping center blast in August 2001.
Bachtiar
said Samudra lived in Afghanistan for 2 and half years and Malaysia
for six years, where he studied using various weapons and followed
world developments on the Internet.
"According
to him, there has been what he called injustice...in fact the murder
of followers of Islam," he said.
"He
felt he was right and finally he wanted to wage a jihad (holy war) in
Indonesia."
Bachtiar
said Samudra surveyed Bali and decided on a date and place.
"He
saw... at those two places a lot of foreigners, bules (a slang term
for foreigners), there at Sari Club as well as Paddy's," Bachtiar
said.
"He
ordered the field coordinator 'Go ahead and do it but that's the
target, at that time'."
A
relatively small blast at Paddy's Bar was followed seconds later by a
huge van bomb explosion at the nearby Sari Club.
Pastika
said Samudra had told police that a man called Iqbal brought the bomb
to Paddy's Bar.
National
police spokesman Bashir Barmawi said Iqbal died in the explosion in
what Samudra called a shahid (martyr) mission.
Detective
chief Erwin Mappeseng said the bomb was strapped to Iqbal's back. His
body was still in hospital in Bali.
Samudra
is the second alleged leading Bali bomber to be arrested, after
another Indonesian called Amrozi was detained on November 5.
Pastika
said police now believe 12 people were involved.
Five
had been arrested, Samudra, Amrozi and three associates of Samudra who
were detained on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
He
said police are searching for the laptop used by Samudra, who has been
described as a computer expert.
In
Sydney, Keelty claimed the Bali bombing was now clearly linked to JI
by virtue of Samudra's arrest.
"I
don't think we need to speculate any longer. Samudra is publicly
identified as a key figure in Jemaah Islamiyah," he alleged.
But
Barmawi told reporters: "We haven't reached that stage yet."
Samudra
and the three associates carried out two gold shop robberies in August
to finance the Bali bombing and were planning more, police said.
"It
wasn't robbery, sir. We were looking to fund a higher cause,"
Bachtiar quoted Samudra as telling him.
Samudra
was arrested at the port of Merak in west Java on Thursday.
He
was sitting on a long-distance bus aboard a ferry which was about to
leave for Sumatra.
From
there he intended to flee abroad, possibly to Malaysia.
Pastika
said Samudra offered no resistance and was identified on the spot by
two of his associates.
Pastika
said Samudra might not be taken to Bali until next week, where the
blast investigation is headquartered.
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