Posted on 11/17/2002 3:08:27 PM PST by blam
Police release pictures of six Bali bomb suspects
Indonesian police have released photos and sketches of six more suspects in last month's bombings in Bali.
They include the alleged leader of the group, who officers say learned how to make bombs during several visits to Afghanistan.
Police also say the same group is responsible for an explosion near the honorary US consul in Bali minutes after the blasts at the Sari Club and Paddy's bar on October 12, which killed nearly 200 people.
"We are confident they are still in Indonesia," said lead investigator Major General I Made Mangku Pastika.
"We want to arrest them as soon as possible. But it not easy to catch them because Indonesia is so big. It will depend on who is luckier, the police or the suspects."
The release of the photos and sketches comes nearly two weeks after police arrested the only suspect currently in custody, identified only as Amrozi.
Police say Amrozi has confessed to owning the explosive-laden minivan used in the attack outside the Sari Club and to having obtained the bomb-making materials.
The main suspect at large is alleged ringleader Imam Samudra, 35, who Maj Gen Pastika said visited Afghanistan repeatedly and was responsible for a string of church bombings in Indonesia in 2000.
Police earlier linked Samudra to Jemaah Islamiyah, a shadowy pan-Asian network believed to have ties to al-Qaida.
Police say the other five suspects are: Amrozi's brother Ali Imron, 30, a teacher at the Al-Islam Islam boarding school in Tenggulun and a courier for the group; Dulmartin, 32, a used car dealer who set off at least one of the bombs using a mobile phone; Umar alias Wayan, 35, who placed the bomb in Paddy's; Idris, 35, who bought the motorcycle found at the blast scene and handled accommodation and financing for the group; and Umar, alias Patek, 35, who drove the motorcycle to the blast scene and is an assistant to Samudra.
Story filed: 09:14 Sunday 17th November 2002
I can't help wondering how long the Indonesian authorities have known about this but did nothing to stop it. I have an awful suspicion that they couldn't care less about a "string of church bombings," and that they only started going after these guys because they are bad for tourism.
It's well known that the authorities actually encouraged the misbehavior of Muslim terrorists against the Christians of West Irian, until the rest of the world finally intervened and made them leave.
Okay, I'll bite. What's the distinction? (One's racial and one is geographic?)
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