Indonesian police arrests another suspect in mosque bombing

Indonesian police arrests another suspect in mosque bombing

2011-05-03 22:25:18 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Indonesia's National Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of a Central Java man suspected of being involved in the bombing of the mosque in a police compound.

According to the Jakarta Post, the detainee, only identified as "M," was arrested on Monday nigh at a market in Slawi. He was suspected of being in possession of explosive devices but police have not found them.

"He was placed in detention and the police will continue to search for explosives allegedly in his possession at several locations," said National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar.

On April 13, a man detonated himself at the Adz Zikro mosque inside the Cirebon police station compound in West Java. The suicide bomber entered the facility with an explosive device strapped to his stomach.

The attacker, later identified using DNA samples as Muhammad Syarif, sat behind the police chief and set off the bomb as morning prayers began. The 32-year-old suicide bomber was killed and around 30 people were injured in the attack, most of them police officers.

An investigation was launched and determined that it was impossible that Syarif carried out the attack by himself. On April 26, police informed that two suspects, Basuki and Arief were arrested in connection to the bomb attack.

Last week, Indonesian police arrested Andri Siswanto in Cempaka Putih, east Jakarta. The police's Densus 88 antiterrorism squad later announced that the three men were linked to the mosque attack.

During his arrest in Cirebon, Basuki, the younger brother of Syarif, was found in possession of four explosives and authorities added that he had knowledge of bomb making.

Arief allegedly helped planning the suicide attack. Meanwhile, Siswanto was suspected of storing explosive materials which were later used for the home-made bomb that was set off in the mosque.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-03