Police Arrest 25 in Jakarta Bombings, Say U.S. Was Targeted

Authorities said Sunday that they have arrested 25 people suspected of carrying out a series of bombings in this capital, including one blast that claimed 15 lives earlier in the month at the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Police said the suspects admitted that they had planned to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta as well as the Sarinah department store, one of the city’s biggest and most crowded. One man was arrested with grenades on his way to carry out an attack, police said.

Government officials have charged that the bombings are connected to the military and to supporters of ousted former dictator Suharto. Ten days ago, President Abdurrahman Wahid ordered the arrest of Suharto’s youngest son in connection with the stock exchange bombing, although it is unclear what evidence the president had against him; police let him walk away after he appeared voluntarily for questioning the next day.

Police officials said none of the 25 arrested so far in the case are members of the military or the police. Authorities gave no indication whether the suspects have other links to the military or to Suharto, who ruled ruthlessly for 32 years before he was forced to step down in 1998.

“We are still investigating,” Chief Inspector General Nurfaizi of the Jakarta police, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told reporters. “We are still searching for the masterminds.”

The Sept. 13 bombing of the stock exchange was one in a series of major embarrassments for Wahid, Indonesia’s first democratically elected president. A week earlier, three U.N. workers--including one American--were hacked to death in the province of West Timor by thugs belonging to militia groups established by the military last year.

The bombings and killings have heightened uncertainty about whether Wahid, a frail and nearly blind Muslim cleric, can prevent the military and Suharto’s backers from attempting to return to power.

U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen visited Jakarta last week and warned Wahid that international lenders may withhold much-needed funds if Indonesia does not proceed quickly to disarm the militias in West Timor, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council.

Indonesian authorities have asked that militia members hand over their weapons and as of Sunday had collected 34 automatic rifles, nine grenade launchers, about 1,000 homemade weapons and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Few, however, expect the voluntary disarmament to make much of a dent in the militias’ arsenals.

Many Indonesians interpreted Cohen’s remarks as a threat that the U.S. will impose economic sanctions if the militias are not neutralized. As a result, anti-American sentiment has risen sharply. Demonstrators in the city of Surabaya pulled down the American flag at the U.S. Consulate last week and burned it.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy warned its citizens in Jakarta last week that American companies and interests could be the target of bombings.

Three of the recent explosions appear to have been linked to a corruption case the government is pursuing against Suharto. The former ruler is accused of stealing at least $571 million from charities he controlled and diverting the money to his children and friends.

Both times that Suharto has been scheduled to appear in court, bombs have gone off the previous day, most recently at the stock exchange. Suharto, who claims he is too ill to attend his trial because of a series of strokes, went to the hospital Saturday for a court-ordered medical assessment of his fitness to stand trial. He is next due in court Thursday.

In July, a bomb went off outside the attorney general’s office shortly after Suharto’s youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra--commonly known as Tommy Suharto--was questioned about his family’s wealth.

After police let Hutomo walk away this month, Wahid promptly fired the federal police chief who let him go and urged the chief’s successor, Gen. Bimantoro Suroyo, to move quickly to bring a halt to the bombings.

Other unsolved attacks include a bomb that went off at the Philippine Embassy, killing two people and injuring dozens more, including the ambassador. A smaller bomb went off outside the Malaysian Embassy.

Police said the 25 suspects are linked to all of the recent bombings but gave few details. Officials said most were from the restive northwestern province of Aceh. But it was unclear how such a large number of people participated in the bomb plots and what led police to them.

One suspect was arrested Saturday and gave police enough information to arrest the other 24, authorities said. Some of the suspects were arrested during a raid at a car repair shop on the outskirts of Jakarta where they allegedly made bombs.