The Jakarta Post, 4/2/2004 5:27:06 PM
Indonesian militants were working on deadlier form of petrol
bomb: Police
JAKARTA (Agencies): Indonesian Islamic militants were apparently working to
produce a deadlier type of petrol bomb before they were arrested last month, police
said on Friday.
Jakarta police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara said eight capsules of an
explosive substance were found at the house of one of nine arrested suspects,
Rachmat Hidayat, in East Jakarta on Wednesday night.
"They will use them as bombs," Padmanegara told reporters.
The medicine-size capsules were to be put into bottles containing gasoline and
thrown like petrol bombs, he said.
"A capsule is usually put into a Molotov cocktail to make a more intense fire," a
source close to the investigation told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Police arrested the nine following an accidental explosion during a bomb-making
class at a house in Depok, West Java on the southern outskirts of Jakarta last month.
Investigators are looking into possible links with a larger terrorist network.
The explosive chemicals -- potassium chlorate and sulfur -- which the group was using
were similar to those used in the Bali nightclub attack.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah has carried out a spate of attacks in recent
years, including the Bali attack which killed 202 people in October 2002 and the
Jakarta Marriott hotel bombing last August which killed 12 people.
Police say the new group intended to use the bombs to battle enemies of Islam. They
are expected to be charged under an anti-terror law.
The incident in Depok heightened fears of bombings before or during the April 5
general election.
Police have quoted one of the suspects as cautioning his relatives, in a confiscated
letter, against visiting "dangerous" shopping malls and against taking part in the
election.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
