The Jakarta Post, November 14, 2006
Bomber wanted to die in the limelight, say police
Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police announced Monday that alleged mall bomber Muhammad Nuh had carried a
low-grade explosive into a shopping mall on Saturday because he wanted a famous
death.
Ruling out the possibility that the blast was connected to the visit of U.S. President
George W. Bush next week, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung
Yoga Ana said the incident was a suicide attempt.
"He wanted to kill himself in the public limelight," he said.
Nuh, 36, a resident of Bidara Cina in East Jakarta, was the only person injured in the
blast at the American fast food A&W restaurant on the ground floor of Plaza Kramat
Jati Indah, also in East Jakarta.
Nuh regained consciousness late Saturday and was questioned Monday.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman said Monday at National Police
headquarters that the suspect, an electronics repairman, had acted on his own to
build the bomb.
"From the testimony of the suspect, we have found no correlation at all with any
militant groups. He's self-taught. He made the explosives by himself as he was a
graduate from a local vocational school in electrical engineering," Adang added.
Ketut said that the explosives used in Saturday's blast were different to those used in
other bombings in Jakarta.
The bomb consisted of a PVC pipe, around six centimeters in diameter and 10
centimeters long, filled with gunpowder.
Sidney Jones from the International Crisis Group told The Jakarta Post that it was still
too early to know if the bomber had any links to larger militant groups.
She added that it was possible Nuh had learned about bomb making from the
"do-it-yourself jihad" pamphlets circulating in the country.
The police said they had found Nuh's suicide note, which included verses from the
Koran and his ID card.
"At the bottom of the note he wrote 'no problem, no conflict' and pasted his picture
with '2070' underneath it," Ketut said, adding that the police believed that "2070"
referred to Nuh's birthday, Oct. 2 1970.
Ketut said Nuh was still being treated at the National Police's Sukanto Hospital in
Kramat Jati.
Police would question him further after the doctors had finished analyzing his
condition, including his psychological state, as there were indications that he was in
distress, Ketut added.
He said that a medical examination had already revealed the presences of pain killers
and cold medication in Nuh's system.
While no links have been made to previous terrorist attacks in the city, many malls in
Jakarta have upped their security since Saturday's explosion. (03)
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