Homeland Security

DATE=09/17/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=INDONESIA/ARRESTS (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-319066

BYLINE=TIM JOHNSTON

DATELINE=JAKARTA

HEADLINE: Indonesia Detains Suspect in Connection with Terror Blast

INTRO: Police in Indonesia say they have detained a key suspect who may have information about last week's bombing at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, which killed at least nine people. Tim Johnston reports from Jakarta, police believe they are getting closer to the country's two most wanted men, the suspected planners of the attack.

TEXT: The Indonesian police say the detainee is a member of the al-Qaida-linked regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, the militant organization alleged responsible for last week's deadly car bomb.

Police believe one of the country's most wanted men, master bomb-maker Azahari Husin, built the embassy bomb and the bomb used two years ago to kill 202 people on the Indonesian island of Bali.

General Da'i Bachtiar is Indonesia's chief of police.

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He says authorities have captured one individual who was with Husin, shortly before the embassy bombing, and helped him move the explosives. The general describes the suspect as a would-be suicide bomber.

Indonesia is considering stronger anti-terrorism legislation, and has already offered a reward of more than 100-thousand dollars for information leading to the arrest of suspected bomb-maker Azahari Husin and Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged treasurer, Nurdin Mohammed Top, and about 50-thousand dollars for other suspects.

Indonesia has a strong record of capturing those behind terror attacks like the embassy and Bali bombings, but intelligence analysts are warning that until militant leaders such as Husin and Top are captured, the threat of more attacks remains. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/TJ/MH/KBK/TW