Indonesian Police Investigate Overseas Financing of Hotel Attacks Following Arrest of Possible Saudi National

Police are investigating whether last month's terrorist attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta were financed from overseas sources, following the arrest of a man believed to be a Saudi national in connection with the suicide bombings.

Authorities arrested two new suspects recently in west Java, a province on Indonesia's main island, said Nanan Sukarna, a police spokesman. One of the suspects, identified as Ali, is believed to be a Saudi national and another, Iwan, is an Indonesian. The arrests come after police detained five people and killed three others -- including the alleged "field commander" of the hotel attacks -- in two separate raids this month. Indonesian police have made leaflets picturing four men sought in connection with the July 17 attacks on two Jakarta hotels.

Indonesian police have stopped short of naming al Qaeda as a possible source of funds for the hotel attacks, which killed nine people including the two suicide bombers. But Mr. Nanan said the police were probing the role of the new suspects in arranging funds from another country.

Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian terrorism network blamed for a string of attacks in Indonesia, has in the past received funding and training from al Qaeda operatives, including for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombs that killed 202 people, mainly Western tourists.

"Jakarta Probes Money Ties to Militants", Wall Street Journal, 8/20/09.