Govt, police still noncommittal on JI involvement in hotel blast<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The government is keeping open the possibility of regional terror
\nnetwork Jamaah Islamiyah's involvement in the bomb attack on JW
\nMarriot Hotel on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the role of the al Qaeda-affiliated
\ngroup in the latest bombing that hit Jakarta could be connected
\nto the ongoing trials of their members in Bali and their alleged
\nspiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I think the ongoing trials of JI members have made the
\ncountry more vulnerable to terrorist attacks,\" Susilo declared.<\/p>\n
He said the government had also been aware of the possibility
\nof bomb attacks following the escape of JI figure Fathur Rohman
\nAl-Gozhi, a bomb expert, from his maximum security prison in the
\nPhilippines in mid-July.<\/p>\n
Susilo was speaking to the press after presiding over a
\nmeeting on security following Tuesday's blast. Police said 10
\npeople were killed in the attack.<\/p>\n
The Denpasar District Court will hand down its verdict on
\nalleged JI member Amrozi, who is charged with planning and
\nexecuting the bomb attacks on the island of Bali on Oct. 12,
\n2002, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. He faces
\nthe death sentence if convicted.<\/p>\n
Other suspects in the Bali bombings are standing trial and
\nfacing the same sentence.<\/p>\n
JI has also been accused of masterminding the series of
\nbombings that have rocked the country since 2000.<\/p>\n
Singaporean daily The Straits Times quoted a \"JI operative\" as
\nsaying on Wednesday that the regional terror group had claimed
\nresponsibility for the hotel bombing.<\/p>\n
Speaking during the same conference, National Police chief
\nGen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police had been aware of possible
\nterror attacks following the arrest of nine alleged JI members in
\nJakarta and the Central Java towns of Semarang and Magelang late
\nin July.<\/p>\n
\"We believe this group was plotting terror attacks in several
\nplaces in Indonesia, but we failed to predict where they would
\nstrike.<\/p>\n
\"Following the arrests, I think the other members of the group
\nwho remain at large have changed their strategy, including how
\nthey communicate with each other, and this makes it more
\ndifficult for us to find them,\" Da'i said.<\/p>\n
Da'i was referring to a group of suspected JI members led by a
\nman identified as Mustofa.<\/p>\n
Police sized more than 1,000 detonators and other explosives,
\nassault rifles and ammunition following a nationwide crackdown on
\nterrorist cells in 11 cities in Java between July 4 and July 11.<\/p>\n
Susilo said, however, that the security authorities had yet to
\nconclude definitively that JI was behind the hotel bombing.<\/p>\n
\"It could have been perpetrated by JI or Acehnese separatists,
\nor other parties, including communists. The terrorists are
\ntargeting Indonesia because we are currently busy with a number
\nof national and international events, including the Annual
\nSession of the People's Consultative Assembly and the
\nIndependence Day celebrations,\" he said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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