Police arrest alleged mastermind of Bali blasts

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A man who learned bomb making in Afghanistan was arrested Thursday in the search for the mastermind of the Bali nightclub bombings, the biggest breakthrough yet in a case that is fast exposing an al-Qaida-linked web of terror in Southeast Asia.

Imam Samudra was captured in the port town of Merak on Indonesia's main island of Java, A.M. Hendropriyono, the chief of national intelligence agency, told The Associated Press.

As well as having trained in Afghanistan, he is believed to be a leading member of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group linked to al-Qaida that is suspected of ordering the Oct. 12 attack.

Police say the 35-year-old Samudra planned the attack and helped assemble the bombs that blew up outside the Sari Club and in Paddy's bar. At least 190 people were killed, most foreign tourists.

Samudra also is believed to also be responsible for a series of church bombings in Indonesia in 2000.

National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the first break came Tuesday, when police arrested two of Samudra's guards near his hometown of Serang. The men led them to Samudra, who was caught Thursday afternoon on a bus as it pulled up to a ferry bound for the western Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A man with at least five aliases, police have described Samudra as a mobile field commander with a university education and passion for computers.

In the early 1990s, Samudra taught at a religious school in southern Malaysia run by the suspected leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah.

Samudra carried out the Bali blasts on the orders of the group's operational chief, Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

Hambali has been implicated in operations ranging from logistical support for the Sept. 11 hijackers to bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines.

"We hope that through him we can get Hambali," Hendropriyono said.

He added the he was confident the rest of the suspects would be caught soon.

Yielding clues

Samudra's arrest could give authorities much-needed clues into the workings of Jemaah Islamiyah, which has planned a series of attacks against Western interests in southeast Asia.

Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang said police were searching for eight other suspects.

Samudra "now wants to speak. He showed us where he lived," Aritonang said. "We are exploring the possibility that his accomplices are in the province where we arrested Samudra. There are raids going on now."

Police this week released sketches of six of the suspects, raided Islamic boarding schools and swept through rural villages where they were believed to be hiding.

The spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to be Abu Bakar Bashir, a detained Muslim cleric.

Bashir was arrested after the Bali attack on separate charges of masterminding the church bombings in 2000 and plotting to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Police have not identified Bashir as a suspect in the Bali bombings, but an intelligence official who asked not to be named said there is evidence linking the cleric.

Bashir denies the allegations.