Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Former Antiterror Officer Targeted in Second Bomb Attack



Police have confirmed that an explosive device of the kind intended to kill a prominent moderate Muslim on Tuesday had also been sent to a former Densus 88 antiterror police officer, Gen. Gories Mere, earlier in the day.

After an explosive device detonated outside the offices of Liberal Islam Network in an apparent attempt to assassinate Ulil Abshar Abdalla, police confirmed Gories, who now heads the the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), had been similarly targeted.

Snr. Comr. Wahyu Widodo, the head of the the National Police’s Gegana bomb squad, told the Jakarta Globe that the bomb had been defused and destroyed.

A source within Gegana said the devices were designed to detonate when opened.Police are still hunting for key terrorist involved in the Poso conflict in Central Sulawesi in 2006.

Taufik Bulaga, alias Upik Lawang, specialized in building low-yield “booby trap” bombs inside such things as torches and even door jams, which exploded when the doors were opened. He remains at large.

The source said it was too early to jump to conclusions.

Gories had led a number of successful terror raids against extremists in Indonesia.

In February, radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir mentioned Gories during his preliminary terror trial in the South Jakarta District Court, labeling the police’s counter-terror unit Densus 88 as being a tool of the United States, Australia and their allies to combat mujahedeen in Indonesia.

“Densus 88 ... is dominated by Christian officers led by Gories Mere. It’s establishment and operations were funded by America and Australia. Basically, Densus 88 is the tool of America and Australia whose goals are to eliminate the warriors who fight for Islamic Shariah,” he said.

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