Suspected Bali bombing mastermind transferred to Jakarta for further questioning

ARMED police yesterday transferred the alleged mastermind of last month’s deadly Bali nightclub bombings to the Indonesian capital for more questioning.

Imam Samudra was brought to Jakarta's national police headquarters just after daybreak in a convoy of armoured cars.

"He will be questioned on bomb attacks in Jakarta and several other places," a police spokesman said. "As soon as that is finished, we hope to move him to Bali."

Samudra was arrested in Banten province in western Java on Thursday and held there for questioning. Over the weekend, police searched a number of houses in the area as well as in Central Java province.

Officers say the 35-year-old has admitted planning the bombings on October 12 that killed nearly 200 people, mostly Western tourists.

About 30 Britons were among the dead.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's parliament prepared to pass a new anti-terrorism law replacing a temporary presidential decree that was approved immediately after the bombings. The legislation likely to be adopted this week is similar and allows for suspects to be detained without trial in cases related to terrorism.

Those convicted of planning or threatening acts of terror would face penalties ranging from four years' imprisonment to death.

Jakarta's Kompas newspaper yesterday said a man identified only as Iqbal, who Samudra said set off a bomb inside one of the nightclubs, had left a suicide note apologising to his family for his "martyr's death".

On Sunday, officers searching two houses rented by Samudra and his accomplices uncovered recordings of speeches by Osama bin Laden and military training video clips.