Bomb blasts a bid to destabilise country, warns Indonesia

INDONESIA WARNED yesterday of a campaign to destabilise the country after co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on two of Jakarta…

INDONESIA WARNED yesterday of a campaign to destabilise the country after co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on two of Jakarta’s luxury hotels killed eight people, including at least five foreigners.

In comments echoed by world leaders, US president Barack Obama said the attacks made clear that “extremists remain committed to murdering innocent men, women and children of any faith in all countries”. Indonesian police said the bombings at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels injured at least 61 people.

The attacks bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiya, the southeast Asian terrorist group that has links to al-Qaeda and that carried out four large attacks between 2002 and 2005 in Bali and Jakarta. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia’s president, said that intelligence agencies had uncovered a series of violent plots by militant groups targeting the country in the wake of this month’s presidential election.

While results have not yet been declared, reliable surveys indicate that Mr Yudhoyono, who led the response to the 2002 Bali bombings as security minister, was easily re-elected. To illustrate the threat Mr Yudhoyono yesterday presented photos of balaclava-wearing men pointing pistols at targets covered with his photo.

READ MORE

He did not name anybody but appeared to implicate Prabowo Subianto, a former general and political opponent. He said there were people in Indonesia who had committed crimes, killed people and escaped the law.

Mr Prabowo has admitted to overseeing the kidnapping of student activists during the dying days of the Suharto regime in 1998. He has disputed Mr Yudhoyono’s apparent victory, alleging massive voter irregularities. Mr Prabowo rejected the claims, saying: “The police have said the bombings were suicide attacks and I have never had any thoughts in that direction.”

The Marriott bombing occurred just after 7.45am with the blast at the nearby Ritz-Carlton coming a few minutes later. Both hotels were among the city’s most heavily guarded, after the Marriott was bombed in 2003. The Manchester United football team was to check into the Ritz-Carlton today before a match in Jakarta on Monday. The visit was cancelled on Friday.

Police said the dead included the two bombers, at least one of whom had been staying in the Marriott for a few days. Most of the Marriott fatalities and many of the wounded were attending a breakfast hosted by James Castle, a business consultant who was also injured in the 2003 bombing.

– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)