Blast rocks Jakarta's airport

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In less than a week, the second bomb attack hit the capital with a blast at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday morning, injuring 11 people, including a family of three.

One of the victims, a 18-year-old baby sitter, had to have her left foot amputated.

With people still anxious after an explosion behind the United Nations building here on Thursday, a low explosive bomb exploded at Departure Terminal F for Garuda domestic flights at the international airport at around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar suspected that Sunday's bombing was related to the previous incident at the UN headquarters and last month's bombing in the capital of North Sumatra, Medan.

Da'i noted that the three bombings using low explosives employed similar operational procedures and he warned of more possible bomb attacks.

He hinted that three groups may have been related to the incident: the terrorist network related to last year's Bali bombing, a regional terrorist network or a separatist movement.

"The bomb is similar to the one used in Medan, whose perpetrators were members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), but we have to wait for further investigation," Da'i said.

He further noted that the string of bombings in the country in 2001 and 2002, and the trial preparation for the perpetrators of the Oct. 12 Bali bombing may also be related to Sunday's bombing.

"There are possibilities that these groups may conduct more bomb attacks in the future," the police chief said, after greeting President Megawati Soekarnoputri at Halim Perdanakusumah Airport.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono concurred, saying that there was a link between the worsening security situation in Aceh and the upcoming trial of the Bali bombing suspects with these recent attacks.

"With these threats we cannot afford to relax our level of alertness and must continue to be prepared for all possibilities," Susilo remarked at Halim airport.

Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar immediately ordered a tightening of security at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as well as other international airports and heightened checking of the public areas.

A senior official at Susilo's office admitted the bomb incident took place amid lax security, especially after the police had forecasted early this year that bombings would take place ahead of the general election in 2004.

"But, please bear in mind, no country has been able to escape terrorist attacks -- however tight their security is," head of the antiterrorism desk, Insp. Gen. Ansjaad Mbay, told The Jakarta Post.

He asserted that although many bomb suspects had already been arrested, terror attacks would still take place because "more of them are still out there and they have already linked themselves to international terrorist networks".

Based on current investigations of terrorist groups in the country that profess an ideological motivation behind their attacks, Mbay said the law was not enough to stop them. He suggested a multipronged approach involving international cooperation.

The two latest bomb attacks in the city occurred just after the arrest of 18 alleged Jamaah Islamiah (JI) members and the trial of JI leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

The bomb that exploded on Sunday was put inside a bag under a bench in a Korean cafe, Sky Cafe, next to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, in Terminal F.

The cafe glass pane, as well as eight meters of glass panes above a ticket counter of the Indonesian flag-carrier Garuda were also smashed to smithereens.

Despite the blast and the presence of policeman, who arrived about an hour after the blast, and the police K-9 unit, activities at the airport remained normal and no flights were canceled.

Airport administrator Moersantono said that thus far, no airlines had complained about security at the airport after the blast.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo told reporters near the blast site that the bomb was made of low explosives.

"If it was made of high explosives, the effect would have been much more disastrous," he said.

But he declined to comment when asked about whether the bomb was assembled by professionals.

A forensics team at the blast site found a steel pipe, a motorcycle battery and a timer.

These materials were similar to those used in the homemade bombs that had rocked Medan, a hall at the National Police headquarters and the UN building.

Prasetyo pledged that in the near future security would be tightened within and around the airport, including the installment of security doors in the previously unmanned public areas.

Police had questioned 10 witnesses of the incident.

GAM spokesman, Sofyan Dawod, denied any involvement in the case, saying that the accusation was baseless and indicated that the government was desperate.