The Sydney Morning Herald, October 7, 2005 - 11:24AM
US offers $13m bounty for Bali mastermind
United States is offering a reward of up to $13 million for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of a suspected mastermind in the 2002 Bali bombings.
Identified as Dulmatin, he is a member of the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah group
suspected of being behind last weekend's blasts that killed 22 people, including four
Australians.
The nightclub bombings in 2002 killed 202 people, most of them foreigners and 88 of
them Australians.
"A lot of time, collection of information and coordinating among various parts of the
government" led to the posting of the reward, US State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack said today.
"This is a process that takes time," he said a few days before the third anniversary of
the massive attacks in which Indonesian investigators estimate up to 99 kg of fertiliser
based explosives were used.
Dulmatin is an electronics specialist with training in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan
and a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiah terror organisation, McCormack said.
A reward of up to $1.3 million has also been offered for Umar Patek, whom
McCormack said was believed to have served as an assistant for the field coordinator
of the 2002 Bali bombings.
Jemaah Islamiah is also blamed for August 2003 and September 2004 blasts at the J
W Marriott hotel and the Australian embassy, both in Jakarta, which killed 22 people.
AP
Copyright © 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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