The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 07/23/2009 3:20 PM | Headlines
Police investigations to identify Friday's suicide bombers hit a dead-end after DNA tests conducted on the parents of the suspected bombers failed to match.
The heads of the suicide bombers were found at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which were badly damaged by the bombs.
"We have compared the DNA from the suspected families of the bombers with that taken from the heads, and there is no match," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Nanan then showed two sketches of the men believed to be the bombers. One of the men was a teenager between the age of 16 and 17, while the other was older and is believed to be between 20 and 40 years old.
The test was conducted on the families of two men, Ibrahim and Nur Said, alias Nur Hasbi. The media has speculated that the men were the suicide bombers responsible for Friday's attack.
Ibrahim worked as a florist at the Ritz-Carlton and his family has not heard from him since the bombings. His wife, Suci Hani, said that she felt very grateful for the police's confirmation of her husband's innocence.
Nur Said once studied at the Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java. The school is well known for producing graduates that later became suicide bombers, such as Asmar Latin Sani.
Asmar was the bomber who blew himself up at the JW Marriott in 2003.
Most of the suicide bombers who graduated from Al Mukmin were recruited by Noordin M. Top, a prominent Malaysian terrorist, believed to be the mastermind behind the latest bombings and previous attacks in the country.
Despite the fact that Noordin has been actively recruiting Al Mukmin's alumni, the school leader, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, refused to explain clearly his views on the unique bond between his school and the fugitive.
"I have different ideas from Noordin in some areas. I dont consider Indonesia a war zone, while he probably considers otherwise," he said. "All I can say is that if his ideas are right, then Allah will bless and protect him."
Meanwhile, the Densus 88 anti-terror squad apprehended two women in Cilacap, Central Java, on Tuesday. One of the women is Tuti Anggraini, the wife of a man named Bahrudin Latif, also known as Baridin.
The women's lawyer, Kholiq Saefulloh, told The Jakarta Post that Bahrudin was the owner of a house recently raided by the police, where they found explosives and materials used to make bombs.
The other woman is Tuti's daughter, Arina Rahmah, the suspected wife of Noordin.
Kholiq refused to confirm whether the arrest of the women had anything to do with the bombings in Jakarta or with Noordin. "I hear that Arina's husband is a man named Abdul Hakim, not Noordin."
However, a source from within the intelligence community told the Post that Abdul was an alias of Noordin, and that the police had also arrested him.
"The police are now in the process of clarifying whether the man in custody is Noordin or not," the source said. (hdt)
Nana Rukmana contributed to the story from Kuningan, Agus Maryono from Cilacap and Bloentank Poer from Surakarta.
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