National

Police Suspect Two People As Bombing Perpetrators
Saturday, 18 September, 2004 | 00:42 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The National Police named Hasan and Jabir as the possible suspects in the bombing incident that took place in front of Australian Embassy, Kuningan, Jakarta, on Thursday last week (09/09). According to National Police chief, Gen. Da’i Bachtiar, Noor Din Mohammad Top, the alleged bombing mastermind from Malaysia has prepared these two suspects to commit the bombing attack.


“We are still chasing them,” said Bachtiar following a meeting with House of Representatives (DPR) Commission in Jakarta on Wednesday (15/09). “If the DNA matches with the body pieces found on the location, we assume that they are the perpetrators of the bombing incident,” Bachtiar added.


Bachtiar revealed the chronology of the bombing incident and the result of the police investigation. He named Hasan and Jabir aka Nanang as the subordinates of alleged bombing masterminds Noor Din Mohd. Top and Dr. Azahari. The police have taken blood samples from the parents of Hasan and Jabir as the comparison in order to find out whether or not the body pieces found on the bombing location were indeed Hasan and Jabir.



In a written answer delivered by Bachtiar to the DPR, Bachtiar suspected Hasan of being connected to Syaifuddin Umar aka Abu Fida, the religious teacher who was arrested in Surabaya, East Java, sometime ago. Hasan was assumed to have lived in Blitar, East Java, and hidden in the residence of Abu Fida in Rungkut area, Surabaya, together with Dr. Azahari and Noor Din Mohamad Top for three weeks.


Hasan’s name is now on the police’s search list together with nine other fugitives. The police have provided Rp6 billions for those capable of giving information the whereabouts of Dr. Azahari, Noor Din Mohamad Top and other suspects.

National Police chief of detectives Comm. Gen. Suyitno Landung said that the police were still trying to find three last buyers of Daihatsu Zebra white box van, that was assumed to have brought the bombs. The sketches of these suspects’ faces were made based on the testimony of the person who sold the van.


In the meeting with the DPR, National Police chief Gen. Da’i Bachtiar concluded that the bomb was blasted outside the iron fence of Australian Embassy in Jakarta on purpose. According to Bachtiar, the perpetrator considered this area as the weakest point of the building. If the bomb had been blasted in front of the wall fence, he added, the impact would have been different. “These terrorist have carried out their research on the target,” Bachtiar stated.



Bachtiar also revealed the circuit camera recording of Plasa Kuningan, that is located next to Australian Embassy. The record showed a box van passed by the area at around 10.30 am. The record made in Plaza 89, that is across from the Embassy, showed a blast with smoke rising for about 30 seconds.



The police found blast point that had been covered with water. This happened because the bomb blasted at the water pipe channel. The center of the blast is 47-cm depth with the diameter of 3.2 meter. The police also found the van’s tire stuck at the iron fence, chassis pieces and filing cabinet. “The explosive materials were wrapped so that it would be hard to detect them. (Martha Warta S/Sunudyantoro-Tempo News Room)