Canberra – Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network bankrolled last year's bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, a key militant charged for the attack told Indonesian police, the Australian newspaper said on Monday.
In a police interrogation, Rois, also known as Iwan Dharmawan, said a courier had delivered a bundle of Australian dollars to fugitive Malaysian bomb maker Azahari bin Husin, the newspaper said.
Rois, who was arrested late last year, said Azahari told him the bombing cost as much as A$10,000 ($7,600), and that the money came from bin Laden.
Australia was targeted because of its support for the US-led war in Iraq, Rois said, according to a transcript of the police interrogation seen by the Australian newspaper.
"The intention to bomb the Australian embassy was because the Australian government is the American lackey most active in supporting American policies to slaughter Muslims in Iraq. It had the aim of preventing Australia leaning on Muslims, especially in Iraq," Rois said.
Indonesian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rois is on trial on charges of buying the vehicle and recruiting the driver used for the suicide car bomb attack outside the embassy last September that killed 10 people.
Authorities have accused Azahari of being a key figure behind the blast. He is a senior member of Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian militant group seen as al Qaeda's arm in the region and blamed by authorities for the spate of bombings including the embassy strike and the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.
Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said interviews in Indonesia had found a link between al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
"We know over a long period of time that al Qaeda has been supporting and funding some of JI's operations. What we've learned from the questioning in Indonesia is that those linkages remain in place," Ruddock told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Two men have so far been jailed over the embassy attack, one to four years jail and the other to 42 months. They had played relatively minor roles in the blast.
No foreigners were killed in the attack. The Bali bombings killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists, including 88 from Australia.