ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it would provide consular access for Indonesia to identify a suspect of the 2002 Bali bombing arrested by its security agencies.
A security official had said Wednesday that a man thought to be Umar Patek, an alleged mastermind of the bombing that killed more than 200 people, was in Pakistani custody.
“I can confirm the arrest of an individual, who could be the Bali bombing suspect,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told a press briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, adding that “consular access will be given to the Indonesian mission and it will be for them to determine who exactly the person is”.
Patek, who has a $1million bounty on his head, was the alleged field coordinator for the Bali nightclub attacks, which placed mainly Muslim Indonesia on the front lines of the global battle against Islamic militancy. – AFP
AP adds:
The main Indonesian suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people was shot and wounded by security forces who arrested him in Pakistan, an Indonesian official said on Thursday.
He was in a firefight that broke out during his arrest, Sutanto, head of Indonesia's intelligence agency, told reporters in Jakarta. One of the officers was also hurt, he said.
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