world+big+news.jpg)
Indonesian police detained several people in connection with last week's Jakarta hotel bombings as they intensified their search for a Malaysian fugitive believed to be the mastermind behind the attacks.
Police said one of the people, whose identity wasn't released, confessed to having trained as a suicide bomber, the Associated Press and state media reported. It was unclear whether police suspect the man of a role in the bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine people and injured several dozen more, or if they thought he was being trained for future attacks.
Authorities say they continue to believe the main architect of the bombings was Noordin Mohamed Top, an alleged terrorist who has worked with Jemaah Islamiyah, a local offshoot of al Qaeda and who is linked to attacks in Indonesia in 2002 to 2005 that killed more than 200 people.
Police raided a house belonging to Mr. Noordin's father-in-law a few days before the latest attacks and uncovered explosive material similar to an undetonated bomb found in the JW Marriott, senior antiterrorism officials have said.
The police have picked up several other people, including a married couple in the central Java town of Cilacap, where Mr. Noordin's father-in-law lived, and two other people believed to be his wife and his child.
It was unclear whether any of the people were being charged with crimes, or if they were just being questioned for information that could lead to Mr. Noordin.
Analysts said the dragnet suggested authorities may have already had good intelligence on Mr. Noordin's activities before the Jakarta bombings, allowing them to quickly identify his relatives and possible associates in the aftermath.
"I think they've got real material -- the information they've been able to piece together from people they arrested in Cilacap both before the bombing and afterwards I think is producing leads," said Sidney Jones, an adviser to the International Crisis Group, a Brussels peace-advocacy body.
"I really am convinced they are making some key arrests" that could lead to Mr. Noordin, she said.
Mr. Noordin has eluded police before, though, including at least one instance in which authorities identified his location only to have him slip away moments before they arrived.
Last week's bombings were the first major terrorist attack in Indonesia since 2005, and they shattered the widely held belief that Indonesia had rooted out the last of its serious terrorists, many of whom studied in hard-line Islamic religious schools in the 1990s.
Intelligence experts say they believe Jemaah Islamiyah remains a shadow of its former self, and investors for the most part have shrugged off the bombings on the assumption that there won't be a string of copycat attacks in months ahead.
Analysts say the risk of bombings remains as long as Mr. Noordin and any of his associates are at large. Some say they believe he has tried to develop terrorist cells in communities such as Cilacap in recent years.
Details about the man who allegedly confessed to training as a suicide bomber are sketchy. State media reported that a man confessed to being recruited by Mr. Noordin and groomed as a suicide bomber, but it was unclear when or for what specific purpose.
The report said police picked the man up in central Java.
Police are still working to identify the two suicide bombers who actually carried out last week's attacks. Authorities have released sketches of their reconstructed faces; one was identified as a man about 17 years old; the other was a man 20 to 40 years old.
—Linda Silaen and Reuben Carder contributed to this article.
By PATRICK BARTA and TOM WRIGHT
Write to Patrick Barta at patrick.barta@wsj.com and Tom Wright at tom.wright@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124836059373775977.html
Police said one of the people, whose identity wasn't released, confessed to having trained as a suicide bomber, the Associated Press and state media reported. It was unclear whether police suspect the man of a role in the bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine people and injured several dozen more, or if they thought he was being trained for future attacks.
Authorities say they continue to believe the main architect of the bombings was Noordin Mohamed Top, an alleged terrorist who has worked with Jemaah Islamiyah, a local offshoot of al Qaeda and who is linked to attacks in Indonesia in 2002 to 2005 that killed more than 200 people.
Police raided a house belonging to Mr. Noordin's father-in-law a few days before the latest attacks and uncovered explosive material similar to an undetonated bomb found in the JW Marriott, senior antiterrorism officials have said.
The police have picked up several other people, including a married couple in the central Java town of Cilacap, where Mr. Noordin's father-in-law lived, and two other people believed to be his wife and his child.
It was unclear whether any of the people were being charged with crimes, or if they were just being questioned for information that could lead to Mr. Noordin.
Analysts said the dragnet suggested authorities may have already had good intelligence on Mr. Noordin's activities before the Jakarta bombings, allowing them to quickly identify his relatives and possible associates in the aftermath.
"I think they've got real material -- the information they've been able to piece together from people they arrested in Cilacap both before the bombing and afterwards I think is producing leads," said Sidney Jones, an adviser to the International Crisis Group, a Brussels peace-advocacy body.
"I really am convinced they are making some key arrests" that could lead to Mr. Noordin, she said.
Mr. Noordin has eluded police before, though, including at least one instance in which authorities identified his location only to have him slip away moments before they arrived.
Last week's bombings were the first major terrorist attack in Indonesia since 2005, and they shattered the widely held belief that Indonesia had rooted out the last of its serious terrorists, many of whom studied in hard-line Islamic religious schools in the 1990s.
Intelligence experts say they believe Jemaah Islamiyah remains a shadow of its former self, and investors for the most part have shrugged off the bombings on the assumption that there won't be a string of copycat attacks in months ahead.
Analysts say the risk of bombings remains as long as Mr. Noordin and any of his associates are at large. Some say they believe he has tried to develop terrorist cells in communities such as Cilacap in recent years.
Details about the man who allegedly confessed to training as a suicide bomber are sketchy. State media reported that a man confessed to being recruited by Mr. Noordin and groomed as a suicide bomber, but it was unclear when or for what specific purpose.
The report said police picked the man up in central Java.
Police are still working to identify the two suicide bombers who actually carried out last week's attacks. Authorities have released sketches of their reconstructed faces; one was identified as a man about 17 years old; the other was a man 20 to 40 years old.
—Linda Silaen and Reuben Carder contributed to this article.
By PATRICK BARTA and TOM WRIGHT
Write to Patrick Barta at patrick.barta@wsj.com and Tom Wright at tom.wright@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124836059373775977.html
No comments:
Post a Comment