Archives

HONG KONG, Monday (AFP) Australia's police chief said that speeches by Osama bin Laden were found at the house of the man accused of masterminding the Bali bomb attack.

Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty also said the suspect, Imam Samudra, was known to be a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah Islamic militant group, which has links to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

"It is true that some speeches were found at Samudra's place, but Samudra is a recognised member of Jemaah Islamiyah and Jemaah Islamiyah is linked to al-Qaeda," Keelty told BBC radio.

But Keelty said that despite the discovery of the speeches and other material at the house near the town of Solo in Central Java, it was still unclear whether al-Qaeda was involved in the October 12 attack.

"It could well be that Samudra has done this crime or terrorist act as part of his own cell that he heads up in Indonesia, or it might turn out that he has done them on the orders of someone higher up, but that will only come out over time," he said.

The 32-year-old Samudra, who was arrested last week, has been accused of leading the group which detonated a series of bombs in the heart of Bali's tourist district of Kuta which killed more than 190 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Indonesian police said Samudra had admitted ordering the attack as part of a holy war to avenge injustices against Muslims.

Keelty warned that six Bali suspects were still on the run and that a large quantity of the explosive chemical chlorate purchased by the bombers was still unaccounted for.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager