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| Southeast Asia |
| Foreign Link to Makassar Bomb |
| 2002-12-12 |
| Laksamana.Net Police investigating the bomb blast at a McDonaldâs outlet in Makassar, South Sulawesi, say there are indications that one of the suspects received Rp40 million from overseas. I wonder from what part of Arabia? Police sources quoted by Satunet.com [Note: In Indonesian] said checks on bank accounts kept by suspect Muhtar Daeng Lau contained a Rp40 million deposit they believed had been sent from overseas. âWe suspect there was an outside role in this bombing,â one police source said. Well, yeah. There would be, if the money came from overseas. So, what part of Arabia was it? And who is Muhtar Daeng Lau? Meanwhile National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said there was also a clear link between the Makassar bombing and the Bali bomb of October 12. âWhile we have yet to be certain who performed the Makassar bombing, information from various sources shows a clear link, although we do not yet have enough evidence to prove it in court.â Bachtiar told reporters in Jakarta. âThe perpetrators knew each other and had met at a number of places. There are indications that there is a network that links these people together.â It's kind of a loose flock of birds of a feather, isn't it? Bachtiar said it was too early to say whether there was any link to Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI), the organization led by detained preacher Abu Bakar Baasyir. Other police sources said there were indications that both bombings were related to people connected to Agus Dwikarna, the Makassar resident jailed for 17 years in the Philippines on charges of possessing explosives. âThere is also a similarity in the Bali and Makassar bombings in that both were aimed at clear American targets,â said one officer. But that doesn't necessarily say that both were done by the same gang of thugs. It's entirely possible that it's two separate gangs... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |