LEAD: Indonesia police nab 2 more suspects in Marriott bombing
JAKARTA, Oct. 30 Kyodo
(EDS: UPDATING)
Indonesian police said Thursday they have arrested two more suspects of the deadly bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August, which killed 12 people and injured 150 others.
Police spokesman Soenarko said Tohir alias Masrizal alias Masud, 29, and Ismail alias Ari Kumala, 28, were arrested Wednesday in front of a shopping mall in the West Java coastal town of Cirebon, bordering Central Java Province.
Soenarko said the two were carrying bombs when they were arrested.
He said the arrests have since given some information to police over several suspects that are still at large, including Malaysian nationals Azahari and Noordin Mohamad Top.
According to information revealed by Tohir and Ismail, Azahari, who used to be a Malaysian university professor and is believed to be a bomb expert, has changed his appearance by growing his hair long and shaving his moustache.
”He always carries a bag containing bombs,” Soenarko said.
Tohir and Ismail also said Azahari and Noordin still have the capability to launch terror attacks as they have about 5 kilograms of TNT explosive materials.
Tohir and another suspect, Asmar Latin Sani, are the alleged executors of the bombing. Asmar, who is believed to have driven a car carrying the bomb, was among those killed in the bombing and parts of his body were found at the scene.
Ismail is believed to be one of the ”Messieurs X,” the buyers of the car allegedly used by Asmar in the bombing attack.
Prior to the arrests in Cirebon, police had arrested 10 suspects in the bombing, but four of them were not directly involved and allegedly only kept the explosive materials before the bomb was assembled.
Police have been searching for Noordin also for his alleged involvement in the massive bomb blasts on the resort island of Bali in October last year, which killed 202 people, mostly Western holidaymakers, including 88 Australians.
On Aug. 15, Thai police arrested Riduan Isamudin alias Hambali, believed to be the operational chief of the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah in Southeast Asia.
Based on police investigation, Hambali helped finance the Marriott bombing and the Bali bombings.
Hambali has been under U.S. custody and Indonesia has demanded the United States hand him over to help arrest other suspects to prevent further terrorist attacks.
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