Posted on 01/14/2003 4:27:39 PM PST by knighthawk
THE man thought to have parked the explosive-filled van that destroyed the Sari Club has been arrested with an accomplice in northern Indonesia - and is believed to have confessed to his role in the Bali bombings.
Ali Imron, the younger brother of prime suspects Mukhlas and Amrozi, was arrested on Berukang Island, East Kalimantan, on Monday night. He was holed up with a man named Mubarrok and police believe the pair had been trying to flee to Malaysia.
Investigation chief Made Mangku Pastika said Ali Imron had "admitted to being connected with the Bali bombings".
Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism director Tim Morris last night described the arrests as a significant breakthrough.
"We understand the younger brother of Amrozi was directly implicated in the crime and we hope his arrest will provide further valuable evidence against the conspirators," he said.
Amrozi and Mukhlas have both confessed that they gave their little brother the job of parking the white Mitsubishi packed with chlorate and TNT outside the club only minutes before the bomb was detonated.
The bomb, along with a smaller one in nearby Paddy's Bar, killed nearly 200, including 88 Australians.
Only one member of the so-called East Java group of alleged bombers - known as Idris - is still on the run. He is alleged to have been the logistics co-ordinator for the October 12 bombings.
Police believe Ali Imron, like his brothers, is linked to other terrorist acts throughout Indonesia, including gun running in Ambon and the bombing of Christian churches in Jakarta during Christmas 2000.
Brigadier General Pastika said Ali Imron and Mubarrok were arrested without incident. They will be flown to Bali within days, where trials of the three chief suspects, Amrozi, Samudra and Mukhlas, are due to start in mid-February.
Ali Imron is also being hunted in connection with a cache of weapons found buried in dry scrub near the tiny village of Tenggulun, near Surabaya, where he lived with Amrozi.
Mubarrok also hails from Tenggulun and teaches Islam at the village's Al Islam school, where the three brothers have all worked and prayed.
There he met cleric and alleged terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir, who is now under detention in Jakarta in connection with the Christmas 2000 bombings and an earlier alleged plot to assassinate Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
According to village elders in Tenggulun, Mubarrok is a staunch follower of Bashir's fundamental Islamic teachings, including his hatred of the US.
Police allege Mubarrok's role in the Bali blasts was confined to receiving a funds transfer from the alleged field co-ordinator Samudra.
However, his real value to the investigation appears to be his links to Bashir - more evidence of a link between the Jemaah Islamiah leader and the Bali attack.
Senior Indonesian law enforcement officials say they now have almost enough evidence to directly link Bashir to Bali. However, they are not confident about the prospect of laying charges. Bashir continues to deny any involvement with JI, or the blasts, yet he refuses to condemn them.
Indonesian police are due to hand evidence to prosecutors today or tomorrow. The smiling bomber Amrozi is scheduled to be the first to go to trial.
Another nine suspects remain at large, including Dulmatin, the man believed to have built and detonated the bombs, and two men named Umar. Two Malaysians are among those being sought, including an academic, Wan Min Wan Mat, and another man, Azhari Husin.
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