Robert Go, Jakarta – Detained terror suspect Imam Samudra has confessed to masterminding the October 12 deadly attacks on Bali, as well as a series of church bombings two years ago across the country, senior security officials said yesterday.
Samudra – nabbed on Thursday evening in West Java as he was making his way to Palembang in South Sumatra – is the man who made the bombs that killed 191 people in the Legian tourist belt. He is also known as Dulmatin, alias Joko Pitono.
National Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar told reporters that Samudra confessed to the bombings and said he was "intent on conducting a jihad".
Other bombings claimed by the suspect were directed at churches in Jakarta, Batam and elsewhere on Christmas eve, 2000. Those attacks killed as many as 19 people.
With Samudra's arrest, the authorities possess at least two men in custody who have admitted to direct participation in the Bali attacks, and are seeking at least 10 others. Senior officials are confident that the current manhunt will net the remaining suspects.
Top officials said Samudra's arrest would help track down alleged senior Al-Qaeda operative Hambali and possibly shed some light on the involvement in terrorism of detained cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, said to be the Jemmah Islamiah's spiritual leader.
National Intelligence Agency (BIN) head A.M. Hendropriyono: "I am confident that the others will be arrested soon. Through him, we can get Hambali."
Police sources said that Samudra communicated regularly with "his superiors" using the Internet. Officers are now seeking a laptop belonging to the suspect, who is said to be a computer expert, in the hope of tracking down other suspects. The detainee is also said to have "coughed up" two new names, which have been added to the police's wanted list.
Furthermore, some of his confessions seem to contradict widely held assumptions. For instance, Gen Da'i said, Samudra had "acquired" the money used to fund the Bali plot by robbing a jewellery store in his hometown of Serang, West Java.
But earlier intelligence information said the Bali money came from foreign sources, possibly from Al-Qaeda itself.