Bali bombing was a suicide mission, suspect claims

One of the bombs that went off in Bali last month was detonated by a suicide bomber carrying explosives in a backpack, one of the suspects told Indonesian police yesterday.

Police had previously believed that the bombers fled after planting explosives at two nightspots in the Kuta beach resort on 12 October. But the alleged mastermind of the terrorist cell, Imam Samudra, said a man identified as Iqbal was blown up by a bomb in Paddy's Bar on Kuta's main street.

Samudra, said to be the brains behind the blasts, was arrested in western Java on Thursday and, according to police, confessed yesterday to his role in the worst terrorist attack since the 11 September strikes. He also said he had been planning a second similar attack, police said, declining to elaborate.

Investigators believe Samudra chaired meetings to plan the Bali attack, identified the targets and gave the orders to carry out the bombings. The head of the multinational investigation team, General I Made Mangku Pastika, said: "Police now are still investigating him and trying to reveal [any] broader network, because there are indications Samudra has a new plan."

Samudra, 35, an engineer, is suspected of being a leading figure in a regional terrorist group, Jamaah Islamiya, which has been linked with al-Qa'ida and is believed to be behind the Bali attack. Arrested at the port of Merak as he tried to leave Java for the neighbouring island of Sumatra, Samudra was traced by a 20-second mobile telephone call.

The two blasts in Kuta killed nearly 200 people, mainly foreign tourists, while a third bomb outside the US consulate in Denpasar exploded without causing injuries. Police believe the explosion in Paddy's Bar killed eight people. It also drew revellers out on to the street, where a second, much larger bomb left in a minivan outside the Sari Club caused maximum fatalities when it went off a few seconds later.

Lieutenant General Erwin Mapaseng, Indonesia's national chief of detectives, said Iqbal had been one of 10 men sought by investigators. "Samudra confessed that the bomb in Paddy's club was placed on a backpack by Iqbal, who then detonated it," he said, adding: "Samudra described it as a jihad bomb." The national police chief, Dai Bachtiar, said that Samudra – believed to have trained in bomb-making in Afghanistan – had admitted to planning the Kuta blasts as well as involvement in a string of church bombings across Indonesia in 2000 and an explosion at a Jakarta shopping centre last year.

Mr Bachtiar said he had told police that Samudra chaired meetings in the central Javanese city of Solo to plot the Bali bombings. The suspect was paraded at a press conference yesterday, standing behind a glass panel in handcuffs.

Indonesian police have arrested another three people, including two men believed to be Samudra's bodyguards. Mr Pastika said they had "participated in the survey" before the attack. Five people are now being held, including an east Javanese mechanic, Amrosi, who has confessed to obtaining the explosives and leaving the van outside the Sari Club. Six more members of the terrorist cell are being sought.

The Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, described Samudra's arrest as a breakthrough and said his involvement confirmed Jamaah Islamiya's links with the blast.