Candra Malik, April Aswadi, Ferry Irwanto & Farouk Arnaz

File photos of terror suspect Noordin M Top. (Photo: AP, National Police)

Police Arrest Jakarta Blast Suspect With Follow-Up Bomb

Solo. Counterterrorism police in Central Java have captured a follower of alleged terrorist leader Noordin M Top who was in possession of a live bomb and planning to carry out a suicide attack as a follow-up to last week’s twin bombings in Jakarta, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.

The news came as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia and other state-owned companies not to compromise on security measures after the July 17 suicide bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in South Jakarta.

A National Police counterterrorism source told the Jakarta Globe that authorities believed Noordin, a Malaysian who is suspected in last week’s attacks and other bombings in Jakarta and Bali since 2002, planned to hijack an aircraft and crash it into one of Jakarta’s high-rise buildings.

Yudhoyono ordered all government agencies and state and private companies to be on high alert.

“I want to warn everybody again, including Garuda Indonesia, about the threat of terrorism around the world, not only in Indonesia,” he said.

“I instruct all elements of the government and all state-owned enterprise officials, as well as the private sector and everybody else, not to compromise on security and safety measures. Do not compromise.”

Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said provincial members of the Detachment 88 counter-terrorism unit on Wednesday night captured the terrorist suspect, whom he identified only as Achmady, in Cilacap.

He said Achmady was recruited by Noordin in 2001.

A woman suspected of being Noordin’s wife was also arrested in Cilacap on Wednesday. Her father, Bahrudin Latif, is also wanted by the police. He is the founder of a Cilacap Islamic boarding school where police found bomb-making materials during a raid on July 14.

Noordin, who allegedly leads a breakaway faction of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network, has eluded police attempts to capture him for nearly seven years.

Riatmodjo said Achmady admitted to preparing to carry out another suicide bombing this year and had a bomb ready to go at his house.

“The bomb was defused and the suspect has been taken to the National Police headquarters” in Jakarta, he said, offering no further details.

According to Riatmodjo, Achmady said he “was enticed by [Noordin’s promises] that if he died in a suicide bombing, his soul would be escorted by 40 angels, freed from all sins, and go straight to heaven.”

Police in Central Java are searching towns and villages for Noordin, and have distributed 15,000 posters to ward and village chiefs, Riatmodjo said. Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo said rewards awaited anyone providing accurate information about his whereabouts.

The bombings in Jakarta last week 17 killed six foreigners and one Indonesian, as well as the two unidentified bombers. Fifty-five people were wounded. It was the country’s first major terrorist attack in nearly four years.

The National Police on Wednesday released sketches of the two suspected bombers, asking the public to come forward and identify them. Two earlier suspects were cleared by DNA tests.

Your View

See Result