LAKSAMANA.Net, October 16, 2002 12:23 PM
Bomb Maker Confesses: Report
October 16, 2002 12:23 PM
Laksamana.Net - A former member of the Indonesian Air Force has reportedly
confessed to assembling the bomb that killed at least 181 people, mostly foreign
tourists, in Bali's main nightclub area on Saturday.
The Washington Post on Wednesday (16/10/02) quoted an Indonesian security official
as saying the suspect, who is now in custody, expressed regret over the high number
of casualties but did not reveal who ordered him to make the bomb.
The report said the suspect learned to make explosives while in the Air Force, which
later dismissed him for misconduct.
Authorities say investigators at the scene of the blast in Bali's tourism hub of Kuta
have found traces of C-4 plastic explosives.
C-4 is a standard issue military explosive, manufactured in several countries, mainly
in the US, and is widely supplied to military forces around the world.
Dr Michael O'Connor, executive director of the Australia Defence Association, has
suggested the Indonesian military was the source of the C-4 used in the Bali bomb –
a claim the Army strongly rejects.
"You may check our weapons' storehouse to see if the army has C-4-type bombs.
The Indonesian Army has no C4 bombs," said military spokesman Brigadier General
Ratyono.
The Bali bomb had apparently been planted inside a Toyota Kijang vehicle outside the
Sari Club in Kuta.
Reports say the C-4 material was similar to explosives used in the August 2000
bombing of the Jakarta residence of the Philippine ambassador to Indonesia. The
Philippines blamed that attack on the radical Jemaah Islamiyah network, which is
allegedly led extremist Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.
Jemaah Islamiyah reportedly has four tons of ammonium nitrate purchased by a
suspected Malaysian member who allegedly hosted two of the September 11
hijackers at his Kuala Lumpur apartment in 2000.
Police have questioned about 50 people in relation to the Bali bombing, including a
security guard who saw a suspicious-looking man with a white plastic bag near the
entrance of the Sari Club moments before the blast.
Another man being questioned is the brother of a man whose identification card was
found at the scene of the blast.
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