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| Southeast Asia |
| Australian money funded Jakarta bombing |
| 2005-06-07 |
| One of South East Asia's most wanted Islamic militants used Australian dollars to fund the deadly bombing of Canberra's embassy in the Indonesian capital last year, a witness told a court. Ahmad Hasan, a witness in the trial of one of the key suspects and himself a defendant, said Malaysian fugitive Noordin M Top had given him $A9,700 for the bombing. "On the operational funds for the Australian embassy bombing, the funds were given by Khalid, alias Noordin M Top. Khalid ordered me in Surabaya to change $A9,700 to rupiah and we got 63 million rupiah," Hasan, also known as Purnomo, said in testimony. It was not clear where the money came from or why it was in Australian dollars. Hasan said another Malaysian, Azahari bin Husin, accused by police of masterminding the blast that killed 10 people on September 9, ordered him and the defendant on trial, identified as Rois, to scout out the embassy site and drive the explosives-laden van into Jakarta. Azahari also gave them explosives to blow themselves up if they were caught, Hasan said. "The Australian embassy always helps Indonesia too much against terrorists and to capture the holy fighters," he said. Azahari and Top are still at large. They are accused of being important members of Jemaah Islamiah, a South East Asian group seen as al-Qaeda's regional arm. The one-tonne bomb detonated just before the driver reached the embassy gate. It ripped open the blast-proof fence of the embassy and badly damaged many buildings in the area. Hassan said that those who died - all of whom were Indonesians - did so because of "Allah's will". The dead were either passers-by, people queuing up to enter the heavily fortified mission or security guards. "When we talked about the bombing afterwards, we never felt any remorse," Hassan told the South Jakarta District Court. Police have arrested six suspects in the attack, which was blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, the regional terror group officials say received funding from al-Qaeda. Three are already facing trial. Indonesian police said they believed Azahari was hiding on the outskirts of Jakarta. Security forces are on high alert for a fresh bombing following a US warning militants may be planning to attack hotels. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Sounds like a poor investment scheme to me. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-06-07 15:50 |