A&W Bomber Acted Alone
Monday, 13 November, 2006 | 15:28 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Muhammad Nuh a.k.a Kholid was confirmed as having acting alone when the bomb that he carried with into a A&W restaurant at Kramat Jati Indah Plaza, East Jakarta, exploded two days ago.

“No witnesses ever saw him coming with other people,” said Commissioner Didik Kusdiyanto, Chief of Kramat Jati Sector Police, yesterday (11/12).

So far, said Didik, the police have interviewed 11 witnesses: nine of them were workers at the A&W restaurant, and the rest were from Kholid's family.

The testimony that Kholid had acted alone was confirmed by Gita Aria Syahputri, 22, the A&W cashier who had handled Kholid's order.

According to Gita, she had warned Kholid for jumping ahead of the queue when ordering a piece of fried chicken.

“He stared at me with his eyes wide open and then ordered some chicken,” said Gita.

After he received the order and paid with a Rp10,000 note, Kholid went off to his table.

Not long afterwards, he returned the cashier to order a glass of Coca Cola.

“At that time, he was sweating,” said Gita.

However, since A&W did not sell this drink available, his request was denied and Kholid became irritated.

The cashier's not having change for his Rp50,000 note made him angry again.

After returning to his table, he sat and then fainted.

Some customers helped him and not long afterwards, the bomb exploded.

The explosion caused some parts of Kholid's body to start bleeding.

He was immediately taken to the Soekanto Indonesian Police Hospital, Kramat Jati, and was treated in the intensive care unit.

Yesterday (11/12), Kholid started regaining consciousness.

Chief Commissioner Petrus Golosse, Head of the Cyber Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department at the Indonesian Police Headquarters, seen visiting the special patient for an hour.

However, he refused to answer reporters' questions concerning Kholid’s condition.

As regards any possibilities that Kholid was part ofa terrorist network operating prior to the arrival of US President George W. Bush in Bogor on 20 November, Brigadier General Sisno Adiwinoto, Head of the Public Relations Division at the Indonesian Police Headquarters, has refused to speculate.

“The police are not allowed just to suspect. The police must have facts,” he said.

DIMAS ADITYO | YUDHA SETIAWAN | REZA MAULANA