Posted on 09/28/2003 12:23:29 AM PDT by HAL9000
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Money sent by al-Qaida to support the families of suspects arrested in the Oct. 12 Bali bombings was used to finance the Aug. 5 attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesian terror suspect Hambali has told investigators, a media report said Sunday.Hambali also reportedly said that Jemaah Islamiyah, the group blamed for the Bali bombings that killed 202 people and the attack on the Marriott, received "operational funds" from senior al-Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Indonesian police were not immediately available for comment on the report in Sunday's respected Media Indonesia daily. It is the strongest indication yet of financial links between al-Qaida and Jemaah Islamiyah.
Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, was captured Aug. 11 in Thailand and handed over to U.S. authorities. He is alleged to be al-Qaida's top agent in Southeast Asia, and the operational commander of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Paraphrasing interrogation records handed over to Indonesian police by U.S. and Thai investigators, Media Indonesia reported that Hambali had said that al-Qaida was "very satisfied" with the Bali attacks.
He is reported as saying that the terror group sent $US100,000 to him in two installments to support the families of more than 30 people arrested in the blasts.
Hambali reportedly told investigators he sent the money to Malaysian terror suspect Noordin Mohamed Top for this purpose, but that the funds were used to finance the Marriott attack, the paper said.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in March. The report did not say what the funds he allegedly sent to Jemaah Islamiyah were used for, nor how much the group received.
Police have arrested at least 12 suspected Jemaah Islamiyah operatives over the JW Marriott attack, which killed 12 people.
Two militants have been sentenced to death for their role in the Bali blast, which was the bloodiest terror act since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Several key suspects are still at large, and police and foreign governments have warned that further attacks on Western targets are likely.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press, All rights reserved
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