The Jakarta Post, October 05, 2004
Police arrest two bomb suspects
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Makassar/Yogyakarta
Police officers arrested on Monday two suspects in the 2002 McDonald's explosion in
Makassar and the 2003 Cafe Sampoto Indah bombing in Palopo, both in South
Sulawesi.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman announced on Monday that the two,
identified as Agung Abdul Hamid, 36, and Anshari, alias Munir Saleh, 27, were
arrested last Sunday and were being questioned at the Yogyakarta police
headquarters to find out if they had a role in other terror attacks in the country.
"A joint team from the Yogyakarta and South Sulawesi police departments nabbed
them on Sunday night. We suspect that they were involved in bombings at the Cafe in
Palopo that killed 4 people and the McDonald's bomb in Makassar," said Paiman.
However, Yogyakarta police chief Sr. Comr. Condro Kirono said Agung was nabbed
when he was driving a motorcycle on Jl. Mangkubumi in Yogyakarta, on Sunday while
Anshari had been in police custody since September 27.
Paiman said the two suspects would be brought to Makassar as soon as police
finished questioning them in Yogyakarta.
National Police antiterror division director Brig. Gen. Pranowo Dahlan said that Agung
was a member of Laskar Jundullah, a little-known Makassar-based militant group,
which is believed to have links with the al-Qaeda and Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror
groups.
JI is a locally based UN-listed terrorist organization blamed for the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali
bombings, which killed 202 people, and the Aug. 5, 2003 JW Marriott Hotel attack in
Jakarta, which killed 12 people.
South Sulawesi police chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said in Makassar on Monday that
Agung was the main suspect in a blast at the McDonald's restaurant in Makassar in
December 2002 that killed three persons and another bombing at an auto show room
belonging to vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla.
Police have named 25 suspects in the case, of which 21 have been convicted while
one suspect died in the blast. Three of them, including Agung, managed to flee the
scene.
"We've been searching for him for two years. We can't bring him here yet because he
was being questioned by a team from the National Police headquarters for his alleged
role in another bombing," Saleh said.
He said that there was an indication that Agung had met with Malaysian fugitive
Azahari bin Husin in Jakarta and was possibly involved in the Australian Embassy
blast on Sept. 9.
Together with Noordin Mohd. Top, Azahari is believed to have masterminded the Bali
bombings and the JW Marriott Hotel attack.
Police said the two have been actively recruiting dozens of local suicide bombers,
including the one who perpetrated the embassy attack, which left 10 dead.
So far, police have named six suspects in the bombing and declared Heri Golun, alias
Heri Kurniawan from Karawang, West Java as the suicide bomber.
Condro said Agung was in Yogyakarta most likely because his wife lives there.
As Agung was taken to the police station, he frequently bellowed Allahu akbar (Allah
is great) in between his continual condemnation of the United States.
"Fight and destroy America. Allah is great!" he beseeched.
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