JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesian police on Tuesday widened their investigation into last month's bombing of two Jakarta hotels, naming a suspect who may have served as a courier for al Qaeda to fund the attacks.
Police said Ali Mohammad Abdillah, detained last week, is suspected of helping to provide financing for the bombings of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17 that killed seven people and wounded more than 50.
"We are still investigating whether al Qaeda or another group abroad funded the bombings," National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Nanan Sukarna told a news conference.
Police have said they believe al Qaeda financed attacks in Indonesia that have killed more than 240 people, mostly foreign tourists on Bali, since 2002.
Regional police officials in western Java state, where Abdillah was detained, said he was caught with a Saudi passport. But Sukarna said he is not sure of Abdillah's nationality and police are investigating.
Police confiscated cash from Abdillah, but Sukarna declined to give further details.
Sukarna also said Mohamad Jibril Abdurahman, a 30-year-old Indonesian, was wanted for questioning in the bombings.
After the police news conference, Abdurahman said in a telephone interview with local TVOne television that he didn't know Abdillah, but declined to comment when asked if he was involved in funding the bombings.
Abdurahman did not say whether he would turn himself into the police.
Neither Abdillah nor anyone representing him has made a public statement about the allegations.
Six suspects remain at large, including the country's most wanted militant fugitive, Noordin Muhammad Top, who police say likely masterminded the attacks.
