Homeland Security

DATE=11/24/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=INDONESIA / TERROR CAPTURE - L

NUMBER=2-320648

BYLINE=TIM JOHNSTON

DATELINE=JAKARTA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Indonesia Captures Australian Embassy Bombers

INTRO: Police in Indonesia have confirmed the capture of one of the country's most wanted terrorist suspects. The man, known as Rois (Roy-ees) is one of four people detained for the September car bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, which killed 11 people. Tim Johnston reports from the Indonesian capital.

TEXT: Iwan Darmawan, more commonly known as Rois, is among four men Indonesian police say they have captured in connected with the September 9th Australia Embassy bombing in Jakarta.

The head of Indonesia's police force, General Da'i Bachtiar, held a news conference Wednesday.

/// BACHTIAR ACT IN BAHASA, FADE ///

He says that Rois - the mastermind - recruited suicide bomber Heri Golun, who carried out the attack, and hid a man called Azahari Husin - the master bomb maker of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

General Bachtiar says Rois and the others were captured in the town of Bogor in west Java two weeks ago. He says the four suspects were wearing so-called suicide belts at the time, but they failed to detonate the devices.

The capture of Rois and his associates is just the latest success for the Indonesian police against Jemaah Islamiyah. Dozens of J-I members have been caught and convicted for their roles in the 2002 Bali tourist nightclub bombing and last year's attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.

But a number of key players, including the bomb maker Azahari Husin and the group's treasurer, remain at large. Security experts say J-I is still capable of devastating attacks.

Meanwhile, the accused spiritual leader of J-I, Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, is standing trial in Jakarta on terrorism-related charges.

J-I - which seeks to create a pan Islamic state in Southeast Asia - has been linked to the al-Qaida network. (signed)

NEB/HK/TJ/JJ