Bali Blast Allegedly Targeted Americans

The attackers who planned the Oct. 12 car bombing in Bali hoped to kill a large number of Americans and were disappointed that the main foreign victims were Australians, the head of the investigation said Friday.

Based on what he said was the confession of a suspect who has admitted helping place the bomb, Police Maj. Gen. Made M. Pastika said the attackers were seeking revenge for perceived injustices suffered by Muslims at the hands of Americans.

The bomb, which was in a minivan outside two popular nightclubs, exploded on a Saturday night, killing at least 191 people. Most of them were Indonesians and Australians. Six Americans were among the dead.

“They said they want to kill ... Americans, so they tried to find where the Americans were gathering. That is in Bali,” Pastika told reporters during a trip to Manila. “But they were not that happy because Australians were killed in big numbers.”

Nearly four weeks after the bombing, evidence is mounting that the attack was carried out by Muslim extremists connected with Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian terror network that has ties to Al Qaeda.

The suspect arrested this week, an Indonesian identified only as Amrozi, has admitted knowing three key figures in Jemaah Islamiah, police say, although the extent of the relationships is unclear.

Amrozi, the owner of the minivan, reportedly said he knew Abu Bakar Bashir, the reputed head of Jemaah Islamiah, who has been detained by police in connection with earlier terror bombings.

Amrozi also has admitted knowing the region’s most wanted terrorist, a cleric named Riduan Isamuddin, who goes by the name Hambali, a police official said. Hambali is believed to be the regional operations director for Jemaah Islamiah and to be a prominent member of Al Qaeda. Authorities say he has played a role in nearly every major terror attack in the region in the last eight years and is believed to have helped organize the Bali bombing.

In addition, Pastika said Amrozi has acknowledged knowing Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, a Jemaah Islamiah bomb maker who was arrested in the Philippines and who has admitted his role in Manila bombings that killed 22 people in December 2000.

Investigators say Amrozi’s passport shows that he traveled to Malaysia and Thailand, although it is not clear when.

He bought the van that was used in the bombing with Singaporean dollars and Malaysian ringgit. “That indicates this has a link with Malaysia, Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia,” Pastika said.

Pastika said six to 10 people carried out the Bali attack and that police were closing in on the suspects.

“We have the names already, he said. “We know their identity. Now all the police are doing is searching [for] them throughout the country.”

Pastika said Amrozi bought a ton of chemicals with which to make bombs, including ammonium chlorate, aluminum powder and sulfur.

Police estimate that the Bali bomb weighed about 200 pounds, leaving the other 1,800 pounds of chemicals unaccounted for.

“Maybe it will be used for another bomb,” Pastika said.

Amrozi reportedly told police that he began building the car bomb about a week before the attack. Its construction would have required two people, Pastika said.

Amrozi told police how to find the house in Bali where the bomb was made, Pastika said. Investigators found explosives residue inside the house, he said.

Police say they also found two one-way airline tickets to the northern Indonesian city of Manado. The tickets were reportedly for travel on Nov. 7, two days after Amrozi was arrested.

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Special correspondent Sol Vanzi in Manila contributed to this report.