Bomb hurts Manila envoy

Bomb hurts Manila envoy

JAKARTA (JP): While the police have yet to uncover the truth
behind a bomb blast at the Attorney General's Office compound
early last month, another bomb exploded outside the residence of
the Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Leonides T. Caday on Jl.
Imam Bonjol in Central Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.

Two people -- Sopyan, 30, a security guard at the ambassador's
residence, and an unidentified woman -- died in the blast.
Another 21 people were injured, including the ambassador.

The blast was the second time in 14 years that foreign
missions in the country have been targeted. The first incident in
May 1986, involved three separate acts on the same day. The first
at the Wisma Metropolitan building on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central
Jakarta; the second in an eighth floor room of the President
Hotel, also on Jl. M.H. Thamrin; and the third near the entrance
gate of the former National Monument (Monas) Jakarta Fair Ground,
also in Central Jakarta.

The room at the President Hotel was allegedly the launching
site for a rocket projectile aimed at the Japanese Embassy here,
while the Jakarta Fair Ground was the launch site of another
projectile aimed at the U.S. Embassy.

The heavy blast on Tuesday, which was heard from a radius of
one kilometer, damaged several buildings surrounding the scene,
including the front windows of the National Election Commission
(KPU) building, which is located directly in front of the
ambassador's residence.

The blast also damaged windows in the nearby Bulgarian Embassy
and at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Center.

The Philippine ambassador's blue Mercedes Benz sedan, which
was parked inside the compound, was severely damaged while the
windows of dozens of other cars parked in front of the KPU
building were torn apart.

Leaves and tree branches were scattered across the main
thoroughfare of Jl. Imam Bonjol, while an electricity pole
located at the Bulgarian Embassy's entrance gate, a few meters
away from the blast, was tilted.

Several pieces of debris from the Bulgarian Embassy building
damaged portions of a house belonging to a man identified as
Ferry Martono, which is located on the right side of the bombed
residence. They also shattered the windows of 21 vans parked at
the KPU headquarters and destroyed the roof and several portions
of the residence of City Council Speaker Edy Waluyo.

A battered and burned Koperasi taxi stood outside Edy's
residence, the registration plates of which were damaged and
unreadable.

A police source said that another white Taft jeep, which had
the registration number B 8149 ER, must have crashed into the
taxi when the blast occurred.

"The blast blew off an arm of the taxi driver, who remains
unidentified and is currently receiving treatment at the Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital. He might turn out to be an
important witness," a source said.

An iron gate, which separated the Bulgarian Embassy and the
Philippines ambassador's residence, was ruined while the blast
also severely damaged the front side of the two buildings.

The blast created a huge hole in the ground right outside the
entrance gate and destroyed a water pipe, sending water gushing
from the site.

Even as police detectives cannot confirm the presence of TNT
(the flammable toxic compound trinitrotoluene) in the bomb, a
Mobile Detective (Resmob) source said the powerful blast
indicated as much.

Between Ferry Martono's residence and the residence of the
Philippine envoy is located a small foodstall tended by a woman
identified as Siti Maesaroh.

Siti was nowhere to be found at the site. Some sources
believed the unidentified dead woman was Siti, but there was no
confirmation of this from the Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital morgue.

Next to the foodstall is a door, which opens to a shack where
Siti probably lived.

Behind the door, police found personal items of Siti,
including a letter issued by Central Jakarta Police Headquarters,
No. Pol. 492/P.4/XII/1999/Restro JP, which one police source said
was a summons.

On the back of the letter, in large, rough handwriting, the
following words were written:

"In all matters, we have been trodden upon, but we are not
trapped! We do not know what else to do, but we have not been
left alone. We have been tortured, treated like animals".

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Nurfaizi said a Suzuki Katana
jeep had probably been placed in front of the entrance gate of
the ambassador's residence for the purpose of being exploded.

"As soon as the ambassador's Mercedes Benz reached the home
and was about to enter, the bomb went off, injuring both
passengers (driver and ambassador) in the car," Nurfaizi told
reporters at the blast scene.

"It's possible that the driver of the Suzuki jeep is the
alleged bomber. The ambassador had left his office (on Jl. Imam
Bonjol 6-8) at about 12:15 p.m. in his car. He had made his mind
to lunch at his residence. Upon reaching the entrance gate, the
bomb went off."

A police source said he was sure the van which was blown to
pieces in the blast was a Suzuki Carry, and not a Suzuki Katana.

An eyewitness, who requested anonymity, however said that it
was a black Kijang van.

The burned engine of the jeep with No. F10A703342 lay strewn
around the bombed residence. City traffic police confirmed that
the jeep turned out to be unregistered.

Solikin, a staffer at KPU, said he was chatting with one of
his friends when the bomb exploded.

"It occurred at around 12.25 p.m. I was very surprised as the
blast sounded very loud," he said.

Hendrawan, an employee at nearby Bank Bumi Daya building, said
he was on the building's fifth floor when the explosion occurred.

A security guard at Edy Waluyo's house in front of the
ambassador's residence, Dedek, said the flames which rose from
the explosion were very powerful.

"The fire almost reached my face. One of my friends, Idup
Gandhi, who was about to open the gate was severely injured in
his hand," Dedek told the Post, citing that he was sitting at the
house's security post when the bomb exploded.

An official statement from the Embassy of the Philippines said
Ambassador Leonides and his driver Eben Eiser were rushed to the
Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta after the
blast.

"The ambassador's condition was not dangerous but the local
driver appeared to be in a critical condition," said the
statement.

Nurfaizi said Ambassador Leonides was receiving medical
treatment at the Medistra Hospital in South Jakarta and Idup
Gandhi had been transferred to the Army's Gatot Soebroto Hospital
in Central Jakarta while the other 19 injured, including the
ambassador's driver, another Embassy staffer identified as
Viernes Ricardo, a taxi driver and a child were being treated at
the Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital.

A police source said the bomb was probably remote-controlled.

A statement from the City Police stated that Menteng Police
subprecinct detectives were questioning eight witnesses who were
identified as Ismail, Kasiman, Ali Topan, Mirda, Syarifudin Nur,
Zulkarnaen, Maisaroh and Wah Fuji. (asa/dja/jaw/lup/ylt)