Indonesia

Ten arrested over bomb plot

Article published on the 2008-07-03 Latest update 2008-07-03 13:29 TU

A suspect arrives in Jakarta
(Photo: Reuters)

Indonesian police have arrested ten people and seized a cache of bombs in the South Sumatra capital, Pelambang. They say that the detainees were part of a "terror network" linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah regional grouping and had contact with the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, Noordin Mohammad Top.

Police say that one of the suspects was a bomb-making expert associated with Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged leader of JI's Singapore operations who escaped from prison in February.

Singapore has said that one of its nationals was among those arrested but that he is not Kastari.

Indonesian police spokesperson Abu Bakar Nataprawira said that the anti-terror police squad, Special Detachment 88, made the arrests on the island of Sulawesi.

He said that the group had connections on Indonesia's central island, Java, "which means there is a relation between them and the Noordin Top". Top is a Malaysian who was allegedly behind several bombings, including the 2002 Bali blasts which killed 200 people.

Seven powerful "tupperware bombs" and 20 smaller pipe bombs, along with bomb-making chemicals and weapons, were found in the attic of the rented house where nine of the suspects were arrested.

Police say that the group was involved in the attempted murder of a Christian priest in West Java in 2005.

Sulawesi has been the scene of serious Christian-Muslim clashes on several occasions since the fall of President Suharto in 1998.