Jakarta, extremists planning attacks against Yudhoyono with 183 kilos of explosives
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - An Islamic fundamentalist cell, linked to Malaysian terrorist Noordin Moh Top, was planning an attack on the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. It was confirmed yesterday in court by Amir Abdillah, a clerk in a hotel in the capital and a prime suspect in the attacks on the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott, on 17 July, which killed nine people. The explosive charge, said the man was "at least 183 kg” and would have caused an explosion greater than the bomb attacks in Bali - in 2001 - which killed over 200 people.
The explosive material was found in a hideout used by terrorists in Jatiasih in Bekasi regency, about 7 km from the private residence of the President of Indonesia in Cikeas (regency of Bogor). When the judge asked if they were part of a plot to kill Yudhoyono, Amir Abdillah replied: "Inshallah [God willing, ed], it is true."
The chief prosecutor of Jakarta, Chairuzl Fauzi, explains that "the terrorist group presented a detailed scenario on how to conduct this deadly attack against the president." Amir Abdillah is affiliated with the extremist group headed by Malaysian terrorist Noordin Moh. Top. Two members of the cell were killed in a police raid on August 8, during the anti-terrorist operations launched in the aftermath of attacks on hotels in the capital.
According to the prosecutor’s reconstruction, Seafudin Zhuri Amir had entrusted the task of renting a house not far from the objective: Yudhoyono's private residence in Cikeas. The sentencing to death of the President is due to his endorsement given by Yudhoyono for the execution of Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Gufron alias Mukhlas, the three authors of the massacre in Bali.
In the court debate it emerged that the preparation of the attack lasted two or three weeks, in the aftermath of the bomb attacks at the Ritz-Carlton and the Marriott hotel in Jakarta. Amir Abdillah also had the task of overseeing the movement of the President and his escort, to trace the route used to move from the private residence of the presidential palace. If found guilty, the alleged terrorist risks the death penalty.
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