Report: Indonesian police arrest alleged Jemaah Islamiyah operations chief

Associated Press | December 4, 2002

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesian police on Wednesday arrested the operations chief of an al-Qaida-linked terror group that has been blamed for the Oct. 12 bombings on Bali, media reports said.

Officers arrested the suspect, identified as Mukhlas, in a pre-dawn raid in the central Javanese town of Solo, The Asian Wall Street Journal reported, citing intelligence officials.

Last week, Indonesian police said Mukhlas had replaced Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, as operations chief of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group.

Regional and some Indonesian officials suspect the group, which has been linked to al-Qaida, was behind the Bali bombings that killed nearly 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, who is heading the investigation into the blasts, told The Associated Press that several suspects had been arrested in Solo, but said officers were still checking their identities.

"We cannot confirm who they are,'' he said.

Police have not named Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron, as a suspect in the Bali blasts.

Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.