Police predict terrorist network will form new cells

Jakarta, NU Online
The police predicts that the terrorist network in Indonesia would form new cells following the death of the most wanted terrorist fugitive Noordin M Top in Solo, Central Java, recently.

Senior investigator of the national police`s crime intelligence department Senior Commissioner Petrus Reinhard Golose said here on Tuesday that new cells would come because the terrorist network kept building relations with similar networks at international level through the Internet facility.<>

He said the disclosure of the case of bombings at Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta some time ago also revealed that there were new cells apart from the Noordin M Top network.

The wanted suspect in the bombing case, Syaifuddin Zuhri, is believed to have set up a new network. "In similar cases before, cells such as the SZ (Syaifuddin Zuhri) cell has not been developed yet," he said.

In the twin hotel bombings Syaifuddin had played a role as recruiter of suicide bombers Dani and Nana, he said.

He had even given them a fatwa that they would die as a martyr and directly go to heaven.

In past bombing cases, Noordin was the one who would recruit the suicide bombers and give them a fatwa, he said.

In disclosing the case of the bombings at Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott the police also discovered a new fact namely that the bombings would be carried out at the same time, rather than one after the other.

After the hotel bombings they had prepared another target namely President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he said.

The group has even prepared a car bomb sent from Solo in addition to some other ready-to-be used bombs in Jatiasih, Bekasi, West Java, he said.

In the raid in Mojosongo, Solo, Central Java, the police also found 200 kilograms of explosives for the building of bombs. This proves that they planned more attacks, he said.

He said the police believed the explosives would be immediately made into bombs because Ario Sudarso, who was killed in the raid, who made the bombs for the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotel bombings was also there.

"The serial attack pattern is not found before. Before they would be inactive for a year after conducting the bombings. Attack and then inactive. Bali bombings were done in 2002, followed by the Atrium bombing in 2003, the Australian embassy bombing in 2004 and another Bali bombings in 2005," he said. (ant)