LEAD: 16 people involved in Jakarta hotel blast: police

0 Comments | Asian Political News, August 26, 2003

JAKARTA, Aug. 19 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES)

Indonesian police said Tuesday 16 people were involved in the deadly bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel in central Jakarta on Aug. 5, which killed 12 people and injured 150 others.

The National Police's Detective Unit Chief Erwin Mappaseng said at a press conference the suspects include Asmar Latin Sani, 28, and Tohir, who were the alleged executors of the bombing.

Asmar, who is believed to have driven a car carrying the bomb, was among those killed in the bombing and parts of his body were found at the scene.

''But I don't want to say yet whether Asmar was a suicide bomber,'' Mappaseng said.

The senior police officer indicated that Malaysian citizen Noordin Muhammad Top, one of the suspects who is at large, was allegedly a main planner of the Marriott bombing.

Police have been searching for Noordin also for his alleged involvement in the massive bombing attacks on the resort island of Bali last October, which killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, including 88 Australians.

Of the suspects in the Jakarta hotel bombing, six -- Toni Togar, Sardona Siliwangi, Idris, Dato Raja Ameh, Purwadi and Muhammad Rais -- were arrested before the bombing in connection with other criminal cases.

Togar was allegedly involved in the robbery of Lippo Bank, a private bank in the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan, Mappaseng said.

Idris was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Bali bombing. Mappaseng said Idris allegedly recruited Asmar to carry out the hotel bombing.

Four people-- Suprapto, Heru Setianto, Solichin and Malikul -- were arrested afterward, but Mappaseng said they were not directly involved in the bombing and allegedly only kept the explosive materials before the bomb was assembled.

Five others, including Tohir, are still at large, Mappaseng said.

Among them is another Malaysian citizen Azhari, who is known as Azahari Husin and has been hunted for his suspected involvement in the Bali bombing.

The remaining two suspects also in hiding were identified only as Messieurs X, the buyers of the car allegedly used by Asmar in the bombing attack.

''At Asmar's house (in Bengkulu on Sumatra), the bomb was assembled by Dr. Azhari with assistance of Asmar,'' Mappaseng said.

The bomb had not been completely assembled when it was brought to the South Sumatra town of Lubuklinggau, he said.

The police found a ''missing link'' on how the bomb was brought to Jakarta and how and where Azhari and Asmar allegedly finished assembling the bomb, Mappaseng said.

Based on the confessions of the suspects, the Marriott bombing targeted U.S. interests in Indonesia, the detective chief said.

The group worked in unlinked cells, he added. ''Sometimes, they don't know each other...Maybe Asmar didn't know Noordin. However, they worked in unity,'' Mappaseng said.

Asked about the possible involvement of Hambali, alleged operative chief in Southeast Asia of the international terrorist network al-Qaida, Mappaseng said the police are still making cross-checks. Hambali was arrested in Thailand last week.

''But the police received information that in June, Hambali delivered $45,000 to a Malaysian citizen named Lily in Bangkok to be used in bombing acts in Indonesia,'' he said.

Mappaseng added that the police are focusing their attention on Indonesian Muslim cleric Zulkarnaen, who is believed to be the leader of terrorist acts. In his 50s, Zulkarnaen is said to be one of the candidates to replace Hambali after his arrest.