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2002 ringleader does not know bombers

Tuesday Oct 4 13:48 AEST

One of the ringleaders of the 2002 Bali bombings says he does not know the suicide bombers who carried out the latest terror attacks in Kuta and Jimbaran.

The so-called "repentant" Bali bomber Ali Imron now in Bali jail has been shown pictures of the severed heads of the alleged bombers.

"I don't know for sure. It could be Azahari's new recruits," he said, referring to fugitive Malaysian bomb expert Azahari Husin who is believed to be behind the attacks.

"All this time Azahari never stopped recruiting people to execute bombings, so maybe those three who died were his proteges."

Ali Imron, the younger brother of death-row Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas, helped police with the investigation into the 2002 bombings, that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Unlike other members of the terror gang, he showed remorse during his trial and was sentence to life in prison.

Meanwhile, a source within the bomb squad of Indonesia's National Police said officers at the scene have found a nine-volt battery - something that Imron said is used in the types of bombs Azahari has built before.

Imron said he had little doubt Azahari and suicide bomb recruiter Noordin Top were behind the latest bombings, which killed 19 people - including four Australians- as well as the three bombers.

But he said he did not believe the fugitive bomb-maker triggered the bombs remotely by mobile phone, as he did in last year's suicide attack of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

"I estimate that the bombs were detonated by the perpetrators themselves," he told the Jawa Pos newspaper.

"But some think the bombs were triggered from afar, which is also logical based on experience."

Police have a list of names of the possible bombers and have sent DNA samples to Jakarta for eventual testing against DNA from suspected family members.

Police suspect at least two of the bombers may have come from East Java just a short ferry ride from Bali.

East Java is home to many conservative Muslims and it's a region where Azahari and Noordin draw much of their support.