Indonesia arrests another alleged terrorist

JAKARTA: An alleged terrorist mastermind sought over two suicide bombings in Indonesia has been arrested, police in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country said Thursday.

Yadi Al Hasan, 30, is believed to be the leader of a terrorist group behind a suicide bombing of a packed church in Solo last month and a similar attack at a police mosque five months ago in Cirebon, both on the island of Java.

Nobody was killed in the attacks but dozens of people were injured.

"He is the leader of the group," national police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam told reporters, adding that the arrest by the country's anti-terrorism police squad took place late Wednesday in Cirebon.

The suspect encouraged his followers to carry out a suicide attack on certain targets, saying it was permissible in Islam and part of Jihad mission, the spokesman added.

He was also a member of Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid which was founded by militant spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir -- sentenced in June to 15 years' jail for funding a militant training camp in Aceh.

The majority of Indonesia's 200 million Muslims are moderates, but the country has struggled to deal with numerous attacks by radical extremists such as the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, which carried out the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Source: MOLE