Terrorist bomb attacks hit hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 17, 2009

[CougarKing]

The return of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/16/indonesia.hotel.explosion/index.html

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- The death toll from the bombing of two luxury hotels Friday morning in south Jakarta, Indonesia, has risen to eight, a presidential spokesman said. The number of wounded people was in the 40s, the spokesman said.


Counter-terrorist police commandos secure the damaged Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta on Friday after the blasts.

1 of 4  Antara News, a state-run agency, quoted a witness as saying he saw four foreigners among the wounded.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel was to have accommodated soccer players from Manchester United of Britain, who are expected to arrive Saturday in Jakarta on Saturday.

The victims were taken to nearby MMC Hospital and Jakarta Hospital, the agency reported.

Police sealed off the area around both blasts, one of which occurred in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the other at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, about 50 meters away, about 7:50 a.m. (8:50 p.m. Thursday ET).
"There was a boom and the building shook, and then subsequently two more," said hotel guest Don Hammer, who was leaving his room in the Marriott when the blast occurred.

"The shocking part was entering the lobby, where the glass at the front of the hotel was all blown out and blood was spattered across the floor, but most people were leaving calmly."


Greg Woolstencroft had just walked past the hotels and had gone to his nearby apartment when he heard an explosion.

"I looked out my window and I saw a huge cloud of brownish smoke go up," he told CNN in a telephone interview. "I grabbed my iPhone to go downstairs ... and then the second bomb went off at the Ritz-Carlton, so I then ran around to the Ritz-Carlton and I was able to find that there had been a massive bomb that went off in this ... restaurant area and the explosion had blown out both sides of the hotel.

"I found inside the body of of what appears to be a suicide bomber, it looked like someone who had been a suicide bomber or someone who had been very, very close to the explosion.
"I also noticed that there were a number of injured people being taken off to hospital, but I only noticed one dead person at this point and time, that's all I saw. There has been extensive damage to both buildings, and at this point and time of course all the authorities are blocking up all the area and starting an investigation."  Watch an eyewitness report of the blasts »

He added, "It's obviously targeted establishments where there are Westerners and expats ... I can only assume it's something to try and send a message."

At the Ritz, windows were blown out on the second floor, as though the blast occurred from inside a hotel restaurant that would have been crowded with breakfast eaters at the time, Woolstencroft told CNN.

The television executive said he had lived for a year at the Ritz before moving to his nearby apartment and had been impressed by the facility's security.

"I just don't know how someone could get in there with a bomb, given the level of security and screening that people have to go through," he said, citing armed guards at checkpoints and thorough searches of people, bags and vehicles.


The Marriott was the site of a terrorist attack in August 2003 that killed 12 people.

Friday's attack "was not nearly as bad," said John Aglionby, a reporter for the Financial Times who was at the site of both blasts.

 

[CougarKing]

A man who was injured in a hotel explosion is brought into a hospital in Jakarta July 17, 2009. Six people were killed in nearly simultaneous explosions at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the Marriott Hotel in central Jakarta on Friday, Indonesian police said. Jakarta police spokesman Chrysnanda Dwilaksana said he could not confirm if the blasts were caused by bombs. A Jakarta hospital official said 10 people had been brought in for treatment. REUTERS/Metro TV via Reuters TV (INDONESIA CONFLICT) INDONESIA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN INDONESIA

Employees gather outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion went off there in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009. Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz, police said.
(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

An injured hotel employee receives medical treatment outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion went off there in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009. Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz, police said.
(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Hotel employees gather outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion went off there in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009. Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz, police said.
(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Police stand guard in front of the damaged Ritz-Carlton hotel after an explosion in Jakarta July 17, 2009. Six people were killed in nearly simultaneous explosions at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the Marriott Hotel in central Jakarta on Friday, Indonesian police said. Jakarta police spokesman Chrysnanda Dwilaksana said he could not confirm if the blasts were caused by bombs. A Jakarta hospital official said 10 people had been brought in for treatment.
REUTERS/Stringer (INDONESIA CONFLICT)

An SA security guard inspects the damage after an explosion went off at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009. Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz, police said.
(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Police officers inspect the damage after an explosion went off at the Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009. Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz, police said.
(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

 

[CougarKing]

A major update:

Agence France-Presse - 7/18/2009 2:45 PM GMT
Malaysian extremist behind Indonesia attacks: official
A Malaysian extremist wanted for a string of terror attacks was named Saturday as the likely culprit behind suicide bombings at luxury hotels in Indonesia that left eight dead and 55 injured.

Police searched for clues in the debris at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, located in an upmarket Jakarta business district, which were rocked by explosions during the busy breakfast period on Friday.

DNA evidence from the remains of two suspected suicide bombers and explosives found in their "control centre" in a Marriott guestroom were examined as security was tightened across Indonesia.

Five foreigners -- three Australians, a New Zealander and a Singaporean -- were identified among the dead as Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda put the total toll at eight, including the bombers.

However, there has been confusion over the toll and later national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna concurred with an earlier health ministry figure by saying that nine were killed including five at the Marriott.

"There were three dead at the Ritz-Carlton. We found a severed head of a male and two headless bodies, one belonging to a male and the other a female. The head and the body of the males don't match," he said.

Soekarna said 16 foreigners had been injured including six Americans, two Dutch, one Australian, two Canadians, one Indian, two South Koreans, one New Zealander and one Norwegian.

National police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri called on hotels and shopping malls across the vast, mainly Muslim archipelago of 234 million people to raise their security protocols in response to the bombings.

The attacks triggered the cancellation of a planned Manchester United friendly against an Indonesian All-Star team scheduled for Monday, a decision that caused great dismay among football fans here.

(...)

The bombs -- brought fully assembled into the hotels despite airport-style security measures -- were packed with nails, ball-bearings, nuts and bolts to maximise the carnage.

Police said they were "identical" to ones previously used in JI attacks, and were also the same as bombs found in a raid last week on an Islamic boarding school in Central Java, carried out as part of the hunt for Noordin.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was re-elected in a landslide on July 8, said the attack was an act of terror that would have "wide effects on our economy, trade, tourism and image in the eyes of the world".

Tourism is one of the biggest sources of foreign capital for Southeast Asia's biggest economy, which has avoided recession in the global financial crisis, but needs more foreign investment to maintain its growth trajectory.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Bangkok Saturday denounced the bomb attacks and backed the Indonesian government's efforts to fight terrorism.

Indonesia's mainstream Muslim groups joined Yudhoyono and world leaders including US President Barack Obama in condemning the attacks, saying they could never be justified in Islamic teachings.

 

[1feral1]

Three Australians murdered by cowardly terrorists. We are pretty much disgusted.

This recent report from http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25803125-401,00.html

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THE deadly twin hotel bombings in Jakarta were "clearly linked" to a Malaysian-born extremist wanted for the 2002 Bali attacks, one of Indonesia's top anti-terrorism officials said yesterday.

As security was tightened across the country, Indonesian police said they were studying DNA evidence to identify the two suicide bombers who carried out the attacks on Friday.

Suspected Islamist suicide bombers detonated powerful devices at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in an upmarket business district, killing at least eight people and leaving more than 50 injured.

Three Australians are among the dead.

There has been confusion over the toll, and national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna has concurred with an earlier health ministry figure by saying that nine were killed including five at the Marriott.

"There were three dead at the Ritz-Carlton. We found a severed head of a male and two headless bodies, one belonging to a male and the other a female. The head and the body of the males don't match," he said.


For information on friends or relatives in Jakarta, phone the Department of Foreign Affairs hotline on 1300 555 135.

No group has claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell on the Jemaah Islamiyah network, responsible for the 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Investigators said they found an unexploded bomb, as well as explosive chemicals and bomb-making materials in room 1808 of the Marriott, which they believed served as a control centre for the attackers.

The bombs were packed with nails, ball bearings, nuts and bolts to maximise carnage and appeared to be "identical" to ones previously used in past JI attacks, police said.

They were also the same as bombs found in a recent raid on an Islamic boarding school in central Java during the hunt for master bomb-maker Noordin Mohammed Top, leader of a JI splinter group.

Noordin is wanted for his role in the Bali attacks as well as a 2003 bombing at the Jakarta Marriott, which killed 12 people, and the 2005 truck bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

"From the modus operandi, this is clearly linked to Noordin M. Top," Indonesian Security Ministry's Ansyaad Mbai said.

No warning

Australia and Indonesia say they received no intelligence to forewarn of the bomb attacks.

Perth businessman Nathan Verity, 38, and Canberra Austrade official Craig Senger, 36, are now officially "presumed dead".

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia "feared the worst" for Brisbane businessman Garth McEvoy, 54, but was unable to confirm he had been killed.

However Indonesian police said McEvoy was among the dead.

New Zealander Tim Mackay, 62, and an Indonesian named as Darmanto were also among the dead. The two suicide bombers are yet to be identified.

Mr Smith, after meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda in Jakarta, called the attacks an "evil, man-made atrocity".

He said Australian intelligence agencies had conducted an exhaustive search to determine if they had any forewarning of the attacks but found nothing.

"There was no intelligence information to draw attention to the attacks that occurred," he said.

Australia will provide Indonesian authorities with technical assistance enhancing CCTV footage and identifying remains, Mr Smith said.

Australia also remained ready to help treat any of the 55 people injured in the attacks, he said.
"We fight a common enemy and at times like this we need to continually work together to stare down the threat."

Wirajuda thanked Australia for its support in dealing with the attacks, which he called an "assault on Indonesia's democracy and freedom".

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd meanwhile convened another meeting of the National Security Committee of Cabinet to discuss the attacks, Indonesia's first in four years.

Families distraught

Family members of the slain Australians have been tasked with the job of formally identifying their loved ones.

Nathan Verity's wife and father flew in from Perth.

Mr Verity's friend, Jim Truscott, said they were "very distraught and upset".

Mr Verity ran a human resources and recruitment business out of Jakarta but lived in Perth.

Mr McEvoy, a mining executive with Thiess Indonesia, was remembered as a friendly and outgoing man.

The former lawyer, born in Zambia before moving to Sydney as a child, spent much of his life travelling throughout Indonesian for both work and pleasure.

He had been in his job only seven months when he attended a doomed breakfast meeting at the Marriott hotel.

Victorian father Scott Merrillees received leg and ear injuries in the attacks and was receiving treatment at a hospital in Singapore.

His younger brother, Jim Merrillees, said things could have been much worse.

"As far as I know, he's OK," he said.

"I don't know the extent of his injuries, but his wife's in transit as we speak."

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OWDU

 

[Yrys]

Police may have found Jakarta bomber's laptop

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian police have recovered a laptop
that they believe belonged to one of the bombers of Friday's twin hotel
attacks in Jakarta, the country's official news agency said Sunday.

The laptop contained information and codes that the attackers may have
used to communicate with each other, the state-run Antara News Agency
said. The computer was found in a room at the Ritz Carlton, one of two
hotels targeted Friday. The other site was the JW Marriott. The blasts killed
nine people -- including at least two presumed suicide bombers -- and
wounded more than 50.

Anti-terrorism officials are investigating the links between the attacks and
Noordin M. Top, the suspected leader of a small Jemaah Islamiyah splinter
group. The group has ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network,
but so far there has been no claim of responsibility for the latest attack.

Top is reportedly an officer, recruiter, bomb-maker, and trainer for the group,
which was involved in a previous attack on the Marriott -- in August 2003 --
as well as attacks on a Bali nightclub in 2003 and the Australian embassy in
Jakarta in 2004, according to the FBI.

Among the victims who have been identified by Indonesia's health ministry,
two were Australian, and one each from New Zealand, Singapore and Indonesia.
Among the wounded were six U.S. nationals, according to the State Department.

On Sunday, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed one of the victims,
saying Garth McEvoy was the first government official to be killed by a terrorist
attack in the line of duty. Rudd also said two other Australians were presumed
dead.

Indonesia's National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso has said the type of
explosives found were similar to those found in a recent raid on a home in West
Java that was linked to Top. "We cannot clearly determine at this time if these
bombings are linked to Noordin Top's network. We have only established simila-
rities in the explosive cache that were found in the island of Java and the Bali
bombings," police said.

Closed-circuit television footage from the Marriott shows a man, sporting a
baseball cap and pulling a wheeled suitcase, heading toward the hotel's lobby-
level restaurant seconds before the deadly blast. Didik Ahmad Taufik, the Marriott's
security supervisor, told reporters Saturday that a man, matching the image on the
security camera footage, was walking "awkwardly" into the hotel's restaurant about
30 minutes before the blast. The man told Taufik he was at the hotel to deliver an
item to his boss. Taufik said he asked a security guard to accompany the man as
he made his delivery.

"But unluckily, a few minutes after that, I heard an explosion and was hit by debris
from the ceiling," Taufik said, according to Antara.

One of the suspected bombers had been staying at the hotel since June 15, he said.
The bombings at the two luxury hotels -- which are connected by an underground
tunnel -- happened shortly before 8 a.m. (9 p.m. Thursday ET). Both blasts struck
the hotels' restaurants.

The hotels are frequented by international visitors and many foreign nationals.