- JAKARTA (Reuters) - The suspected
mastermind of last month's devastating Bali bombings, which killed nearly
200 people, was arrested on Thursday, marking a major breakthrough in investigations
into the attack.
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- The 35-year-old Indonesian man, Imam Samudra, was detained
in a town near Jakarta after two other men believed to be his bodyguards
were taken into custody, police said.
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- "I just have received reports from the investigation
team...(It) has arrested three people and Imam Samudra was one of them,"
National Police chief Da'i Bachtiar told reporters.
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- "He was caught today at 5:30 p.m. (3:30 a.m. EST)
on his way to Sumatra. He did not give any resistance. He was not carrying
any weapon," said Bachtiar.
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- More than 180 people, most of them Western tourists,
were killed in the October 12 bomb attacks, which devastated a nightclub
district in the Kuta beach area of Bali. Many victims were blown to bits
or burned beyond recognition.
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- Some officials have linked the attacks to Osama bin Laden's
al Qaeda group and the Southeast Asian militant Muslim network Jemaah Islamiah,
although police say it is too early to conclude that.
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- Samudra was arrested at the Merak port in the province
of Banten, 100 km (60 miles) from Jakarta. Bachtiar said he was caught
inside a bus about to board a ferry at the western Java port for the adjacent
island of Sumatra.
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- Two other men, identified as Rauf and Yadi, were caught
on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively in a village in Banten. Police said
they were Samudra's bodyguards.
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- TOP PLANNER
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- On Sunday, police identified Samudra, an engineer with
several aliases as the top planner in the group behind the Bali bombing.
Relatives say he was born with the name Abdul Azis.
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- Investigators have said Samudra was the one who initiated
and chaired meetings that eventually led to the attack.
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- But it is unclear whether he was a lone player or receiving
instructions from someone else.
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- Indonesia's Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil, various
foreign officials and intelligence sources have said Jemaah Islamiah and
al Qaeda were behind the bombings.
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- But police have said there is no evidence yet to link
them.
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- They think Samudra learned how to make bombs during visits
to Afghanistan and say he is also a suspect in Christmas Eve 2000 bombings
in several churches in Jakarta and outlying provinces.
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- According to police, a Pakistani national and self-confessed
al Qaeda member, Omar al-Faruq, has tied those bombings and other attacks
to his own activities in Indonesia, which he entered in 1998.
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- He was arrested in June and turned over to U.S. authorities.
Intelligence sources say he warned there were plans to attack Western targets
in September.
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- FINALLY, HE APPEARED
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- Samudra has long been on the wanted list because of the
church bombings.
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- "We have been scouring Banten for months but we
never revealed (this search). Finally, he appeared and we caught him,"
Banten police chief Abdurrachman said in a radio interview.
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- Police have so far identified seven suspects in the Bali
bombings -- the worst terror act since the September 11 attacks in New
York and Washington. But only one other suspect, Amrozi, is known to have
been arrested.
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- Authorities have been building the case from revelations
by Amrozi, a mechanic from East Java caught on November 5.
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- Police say Amrozi wanted to kill Americans because he
hated U.S. policies he described as oppressive to Muslims, although in
the event the largest number of foreign victims were Australians.
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- Deputy national police spokesman Edward Aritonang said
Samudra was under intensive questioning in Banten, but might be brought
to Jakarta on Friday.
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- Samudra has lived in many places including Malaysia.
Intelligence sources there said he fled his Klang residence in June last
year after an associate was arrested.
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- Jemaah Islamiah's alleged operational leader is Hambali,
who is wanted by Indonesia and several other countries over terror cases,
including the Christmas 2000 bombings.
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