Indonesia arrests suspected suicide bomb recruit
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Two suicide bombers killed seven people at the adjacent JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta
Indonesian police arrested Thursday a suspected would-be suicide bomber trained by the group believed to be responsible for last week's deadly hotel attacks in Jakarta.
As police stepped up the hunt for alleged terrorist mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top, a defiant President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the country's economic and democratic development would not be slowed by extremist violence.
Two suicide bombers killed seven people at the adjacent JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta Friday, the worst attack in the mainly Muslim archipelago since 2005.
Police said the man who was arrested in Cilacap district of Central Java province had confessed to being groomed as a suicide bomber by Noordin, state-run news agency Antara reported.
Malaysian-born Islamist Noordin, who is linked to Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), is accused of involvement in multiple attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.
"Based on the explanation we've received, this person has admitted that they were recruited by Noordin M. Top to become the perpetrator of a suicide bomb," Central Java police chief Alex Bambang Riatmodjo was quoted as saying.
"Apart from that, we can't convey yet what location would have been the target of this man. What is clear is that he has admitted to all accusations."