JAKARTA (AP): Six Muslim
militants arrested last month in Indonesia were members of a suicide
squad that was awaiting attack orders from leaders of the Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) terror group, a top security official told the
Associated Press on Wednesday.
Police recovered letters in a house rented by the men in which
they told their families they intended to blow themselves in attacks
on unspecified targets, said Ansyaad Mbai, the top anti-terror
official at the security ministry.
"They were awaiting orders from their bosses, Azahari bin Husin
and Noordin Mohammed Top," Mbai said, referring to two alleged
leaders of the al-Qaida-linked JI who remain free. "This shows that
terrorism remains a threat in Indonesia."
The six suspects were arrested June 30 in a house in Sukoharjo on
Indonesia's main island of Java, some 400 kilometers east of
Jakarta. They are being held on Bali island.
Police have said the men also played a role in the Oct. 12, 2002,
Bali bombings and the Aug. 5, 2003, attack on the J.W. Marriott
hotel in Jakarta. Both attacks were blamed on JI. (*)
