Arrests over Jakarta hotel attack - report

A leading Indonesian newspaper says police have arrested nine people suspected of being involved in last week's bombing of a …

A leading Indonesian newspaper says police have arrested nine people suspected of being involved in last week's bombing of a Jakarta hotel, although police denied the report.

The Media Indonesiadaily quoted a source at Jakarta police headquarters as saying the nine included one Malaysian. It quoted a police source as saying they wanted to suppress the information in the hope of catching more suspects.

Suspicion over the August 5th car bomb attack on the JW Marriott Hotel, which killed 12 people and wounded 150, has focused on Jemaah Islamiah, the Southeast Asian militant Muslim network blamed for the Bali bomb blasts that killed 202.

Indonesia's police chief said on Wednesday officers had put under surveillance individuals who might be among militants suspected of carrying out the Marriott attack. Asked soon after that why police had not arrested them, a spokesman said police were hoping to learn more about the group before moving in.

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On Thursday, top ministers are due to discuss strengthening anti-terror regulations, although officials have said Jakarta would not copy Draconian security laws used by its neighbours.

Current anti-terrorism regulations were introduced in the wake of last October's Bali bombings. They give police the power to use intelligence data as the basis for arrests, but are not as far reaching as laws used in Singapore and Malaysia.