LAKSAMANA.Net, September 15, 2004 11:57 PM
More Suspected Suicide Bombers Named
Laksamana.Net - Police have released the names of five men suspected of being
recruited for suicide bombings, including last week's deadly attack the Australian
Embassy in Jakarta.
National Police chief General Dai Bachtiar, briefing a parliamentary hearing on the
progress of investigation, on Wednesday (15/9/04) said two suspected suicide
bombers who might have attacked the embassy had been identified as Hasan Nur
Sodiq and Jabir alias Anang.
The previous day, National Police criminal investigation chief Commissioner General
Suyitno Landung identified three suspects and named them as Akbar, Kobra and
Sudadi.
Police are now attempting to match DNA from the suspects' families to the remains of
severed body parts taken from the scene of the September 9 car suicide bombing that
killed at least 10 people and injured 182.
It's still unclear whether there were one, two or three suicide bombers involved in the
embassy attack, as the force of the blast blew much of the explosives-laden Daihatsu
Zebra van and its occupant(s) to smithereens.
Police have warned that the suspected bombing masterminds, Malaysian nationals
Noordin Mohammad Top and Azahari Husin, who are both wanted in connection with
the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and 2003 bombing of Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel,
could be planning more suicide attacks.
Bachtiar told legislators the explosives used in last week's attack had been placed in
blue, purple, green and red plastic filing cabinets, similar to those used in the Bali
bombings.
"The target was the Australian Embassy… They had already conducted a survey,
because they knew the weak point was the gate, and if they went forward a little,
beyond that was a thick wall, where the impact would not be so heavy," he was
quoted as saying by The Australian daily.
He said investigators had found various types of explosives at the blast site, including
TNT, potassium chlorate potassium and aluminium powder.
Bachtiar confirmed reports that officers had recovered the chassis number - 9032109
– of the van and were tracking down its owners in an effort to identify the bombers.
"According to us they deliberate chose Daihatsu because it had a 'soft' engine block
that would be destroyed by the explosion. But we still managed to find the chassis
number," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
He said embassy security officer Anton Sujarwo, who perished in the blast, had seen
the van turn toward the embassy and wanted to stop the vehicle, but it blew up
instantly.
Bachtiar said police had interviewed 60 witnesses and were continuing to follow
various leads. "By the fifth day of our investigation we have reached many
conclusions. That is, the explosion came from at least one car suicide bomber, who
killed himself; the type of explosives used are known; and the modus operandi was
the same as the Bali and Marriott bombings."
He said police were not yet sure whether a remote control had been used to detonate
the bomb, as the evidence was still being sifted through and analyzed.
"The investigation is still far from over, but we have found leads that will bring us to the
perpetrators," he added.
Investigators have found suicide notes written by a cell of suicide bombers allegedly
recruited by Noordin and Azahari. Police said one of the notes was written in a
combination of Indonesian and Arabic.
Detikcom reported that one of the suspected bombers, Hasan Nur Sodiq, had lived in
the East Java capital of Surabaya with his mother, wife and his two children. His wife
is reportedly pregnant with a third child.
Neighbors were quoted as saying they recognized Hasan from a one of 10
photographs on a series of wanted posters issued by police and broadcast on
television.
One of the neighbors, Kusjari, said he did not suspect Hasan could be a terrorist, as
he was a friendly and well educated man, who worked hard and prayed five times a
day.
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