Jakarta Attacks May Be Linked to Bali Bombers

July 19 (Bloomberg) — The bombings at the Jakarta JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels that killed nine people, including two suspected attackers, are probably linked with the mastermind of the 2002 Bali blasts, an Indonesian official said.

The attacks two days ago bear the hallmark of tactics and explosive devices used by Malaysian terrorist Noordin Mohammad Top, said Ansyaad Mbai, who coordinates Indonesian counter-terrorism efforts. Police identified one of the bombers, and determined that both were members of Jemaah Islamiyah, which the government blames for the Bali attacks, Agence France-Presse reported today, citing national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono kept the nation of 227 million people free of attacks for four years by capturing militants and giving tuition aid for the children of reformed terrorists. Top, a former member of a group linked to al-Qaeda, was probably looking for the right moment to strike, such as the presidential election and a planned trip by the Manchester United Football Club, said Mbai.

“They wanted to send a strong message to show that their capability and spirit remains strong,” Mbai, who isn’t directly involved in the investigations, said yesterday in an interview in Jakarta. “Using the Manchester United event, they wanted to attract international attention.”

Hotel Guests

The British soccer team scrapped its first trip to Indonesia because of the attacks, which came nine days after the presidential elections. Yudhoyono, a 59-year-old former general, was re-elected with 62 percent of the votes, according to the latest tally by the election commission.

Investigators are trying to determine which group sent the two suicide bombers to the hotels, where they stayed as guests before making the attacks, Indonesian Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters July 17.

President Barack Obama offered U.S. support in the investigation during a telephone conversation with Yudhoyono, the White House said in a statement.

Police found and defused an unexploded bomb in a guest room in the Marriott July 17 after the suicide bombers detonated two such devices in restaurants at the Marriott and Ritz Carlton.

The Jakarta administration may ban people from bringing in luggage to hotel restaurants, city Governor Fauzi Bowo said ata briefing yesterday. Marriott, the biggest U.S. hotel chain, is studying the use of X-ray machines, “sniffer” dogs and entry barriers, said Alan Orlob, Marriott’s global head of security.

Obama’s Message

Obama in his telephone call congratulated Yudhoyono on his re-election and said the July 8 poll in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country “reminds the world that Islam, democracy and diversity can co-exist and thrive,” the White House statement said.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, during a visit to Jakarta yesterday, offered to help Indonesia with the investigations.

Among the four foreigners killed in the bombings, three were from Australia and one from New Zealand, officials said. The dead included three people who were yet to be identified and the two bombers.

Among the 50 wounded, 16 were foreigners, including eight Americans and citizens of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and Britain, officials said.

The attack “more than anything, points to an extremist Islamic group that may be one associated with Top,” said Sidney Jones, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group in Jakarta. “Any of these attacks needs a lot of planning.”

In August 2003, 12 people died when a truck bomb exploded outside the Marriott lobby in Jakarta. Indonesia blamed that attack and the Bali bombing the previous year on Jemaah Islamiyah, which is linked to al-Qaeda.

Stratfor, a Texas-based national security consulting firm, called Jemaah Islamiyah the likely suspect for the July 17 attack.

from: bloomberg.com