Posted on 12/06/2002 6:12:41 PM PST by knighthawk
THE Bali terror bombing which killed more than 190 people and caused millions of dollars in losses cost just $US30,000 ($A54,000) to finance, the chief investigator into the blast said today.
A man called Mukhlas, who was arrested on Tuesday and is operations chief of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional network, has admitted accepting the cash in two installments from a Malaysian called Wan Min, said the investigator, I Made Mangku Pastika.
Pastika said the money had been "all spent and gone" and that Wan Min was now detained in Malaysia. Police are still investigating who gave the money to the Malaysian.
The arrest of Mukhlas was another coup for investigators, who already have two key Bali suspects in custody -- the alleged mastermind Imam Samudra and Mukhlas's brother Amrozi.
Pastika confirmed today that "based on intelligence reports" Mukhlas had taken over as JI operations chief from a fellow Indonesian called Hambali.
Hambali is being hunted by five countries on terrorism charges. Apart from being JI's previous operations chief he is also thought to be a senior al-Qaeda operative.
Police have said Mukhlas took part in meetings to plan the Bali bombing on October 12 which killed more than 190 people. Recent disclosures have tied JI, which is believed to have connections with al-Qaeda, closely to the Bali bombing.
Pastika described a detained Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as founder and spiritual leader of the network.
Asked by reporters who is JI spiritual leader, he replied: "Well, it's Abu Bakar Bashir and the whole world knows that the founder of Jemaah Islamiah was Abu Bakar Bashir and Abdullah Sungkar."
Sungkar is dead. Bashir is not accused of a role in the Bali bombing but is being detained in a Jakarta police hospital on separate terrorism charges.
National police chief Da'i Bachtiar said he had proposed to several countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, that they join forces in hunting Hambali.
He confirmed that an explosion which killed three people and injured 11 at a McDonald's restaurant in the city of Makassar last night was caused by a bomb.
A second explosion that evening at a car showroom in the city in South Sulawesi province was also due to a bomb, he said. No one was hurt in the second blast.
"Despite what we have uncovered about recent terrorist actions such an incident still occurs," the police chief said.
He said police are still trying to determine whether the Makassar blast is related to the Bali bombing as well as other incidents.
Samudra, who was arrested on November 21 aboard a ferry while trying to flee Indonesia's main island of Java, was expected to be flown this evening to Bali along with other suspects, police have said.
The multinational investigation is based on the resort island, whose tourism industry suffered a grievous blow from the bombing.
Police say Samudra, who spent time in Afghanistan where he learned bombmaking and also in Malaysia, wanted to wage a jihad (holy war) to avenge injustice to Muslims worldwide.
Amrozi is also held in Bali.
His motive, police say, was to kill as many Americans as possible. Australians and Britons actually suffered the most fatalities, as well as Indonesians.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.