Carnage in Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
At least seven were confirmed killed and over 180 injured in a
\nbomb explosion outside the Australian Embassy on Thursday
\nmorning, just 11 days ahead of the presidential election.
\nOfficials said eight died and that some 150 from 182 victims had
\nbeen released from hospital.<\/p>\n
Police suspect a suicide car bomb as the cause of the
\nexplosion, located in the midst of one of the capital's prime
\nbusiness districts. But witnesses mentioned the presence of \"two
\nmen on a motorcycle\" seconds before the blast around 10:30 a.m.
\non Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The busy thoroughfare, which was quickly cordoned off, houses
\nforeign firms, large banks and many other embassies, including
\nthose of Greece, Morocco, Russia and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"Sounds of thunder\" were heard up to 5 kilometers away from
\nthe site and \"glass windows trembled\" at one West Jakarta hotel,
\na visitor said. Body parts \"fell from trees\", witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Victims included embassy security guards, police and passersby
\nas well as office workers in high-rise buildings, some more than
\n500 meters away. The Australian Embassy will be closed until
\nfurther notice. Among the confirmed dead is an embassy gardener,
\nAnton Sudjarwo.<\/p>\n
The explosion left a one-meter deep, three-meter diameter
\ncrater and ripped through the embassy's iron fence, bringing to
\nmind the craters following the explosions of the JW Marriott
\nhotel last year and the Bali bomb in 2002.<\/p>\n
The attack followed warnings issued by the United States and
\nAustralia over the past week, which said their citizens in
\nIndonesia should stay away from foreign hotels and defer non-
\nessential travel to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Bomb threats were also reported at other buildings and hotels
\nin the city.<\/p>\n
One of the buildings that suffered a lot of damage, with
\nshattered windows reaching up to the top story, included the one
\nacross from the Australian Embassy -- the Plaza 89 office
\ncomplex, which houses the Jakarta offices of mining firm PT
\nFreeport Indonesia as well as the Greek Embassy. Many of the
\ninjured suffered gashes and lacerations from broken windows.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that many foreigners work in the buildings
\nsurrounding the blast, no foreign fatalities were reported.<\/p>\n
It was the third bomb attack in the capital this year after
\none exploded in Depok and another blew up inside the General
\nElection Commission's office in Menteng.<\/p>\n
At least four motorcycles, 10 cars, two buses and a police
\ntruck were badly damaged.<\/p>\n
The police immediately linked the embassy bombing with the
\nMarriott bombing on Aug. 5, 2003 and the Bali bombing on Oct. 12,
\n2002. Both had a similar modus operandi: A car bomb on a street
\nnext to a site with a large number of foreign citizens.<\/p>\n
Like the Bali and Marriott bombings, police suspect that the
\ndriver of the vehicle was blown up, following the findings of
\nnearly unrecognizable bodies near the site -- in this case a
\nmangled torso. A police source said they suspected there wer two
\nsuicide bombers. \"We've already found the chassis of the car
\nbomb,\" the source said.<\/p>\n
However witnesses said two motorcyclists intentionally rammed
\ntheir motorcycles into the wall of the embassy's security post.<\/p>\n
The driver \"repeatedly revved it up just seconds before the
\nexplosion,\" a witness said.<\/p>\n
Police were quick to name two suspected masterminds -- the two
\nMalaysian-born fugitives who are also prime suspects in the Bali
\nand Marriott bombings -- Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top.
\nPolice have linked them with the United Nations-listed terrorist
\nnetwork Jamaah Islamiyah.<\/p>\n
Thursday's tragedy is a test case to the newly installed 75
\n-member police antiterror squad, which was trained by officers
\nfrom the United States. Last week, the squad's chief Brig. Gen.
\nGorries Mere and Bali bombing convict Ali Imron were spotted
\nhaving coffee at an upmarket cafe in Central Jakarta. Police
\nclaimed that the meeting was part of an investigation.<\/p>\n
This latest terror act occurred at the precise moment that
\nNational Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar was at the legislature
\ndiscussing security conditions prior to the elections.<\/p>\n
Officials who later arrived at the site included both
\npresidential candidates. Hassan Wirayuda, the foreign minister,
\nsaid he would discuss antiterror cooperation with his Australian
\ncounterpart Alexander Downer, who was scheduled to arrive late
\nThursday along with nine forensics experts.<\/p>",
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