Indonesia to take custody of alleged Bali bomber

ISLAMABAD - Indonesian security officials on Wednesday took custody of an alleged terrorist arrested in Pakistan and linked to the 2002 bombing of a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, a senior Pakistani security official and a western diplomat separately confirmed to CBS News.

Umar Patek was arrested in Pakistan's northern city of Abbottabad in January, about four months before U.S. Navy Seals tracked and killed Osama bin Laden in the same city.

While speculation has been rife that the two men may have come in contact with each other in Abbottabad, the Pakistani security official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity described the suspicion as "nonsense."

Confirming news of Patek's imminent departure from Pakistan, the security official said, "Umar Patek is now in the custody of Indonesian officials and they are making preparations to fly him out of Pakistan".

A western diplomat in Islamabad who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity said, "This is an important achievement for Indonesia. The arrest of Umar Patek is a major success for Indonesia's efforts to nail down terrorists."

The 41-year-old Patek allegedly manufactured the bombs which were used in the 2002 attacks targeting nightclubs in Bali, a popular island resort for western tourists. Many of the more than 200 people killed in that attack were tourists, largely from Australia.

Patek is suspected to have been a member of 'Jemaah Islamiyah' (JI), the al Qaeda-linked terror network active in Southeast Asia. In the past, Pakistani officials have cited Indonesian security officials for anxiously seeking to lay their hands immediately on Patek, hoping that he would become a source of valuable information on JI's activities in relation to Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.