Carnage in Jakarta

Carnage in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least seven were confirmed killed and over 180 injured in a
bomb explosion outside the Australian Embassy on Thursday
morning, just 11 days ahead of the presidential election.
Officials said eight died and that some 150 from 182 victims had
been released from hospital.

Police suspect a suicide car bomb as the cause of the
explosion, located in the midst of one of the capital's prime
business districts. But witnesses mentioned the presence of "two
men on a motorcycle" seconds before the blast around 10:30 a.m.
on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta.

The busy thoroughfare, which was quickly cordoned off, houses
foreign firms, large banks and many other embassies, including
those of Greece, Morocco, Russia and Malaysia.

"Sounds of thunder" were heard up to 5 kilometers away from
the site and "glass windows trembled" at one West Jakarta hotel,
a visitor said. Body parts "fell from trees", witnesses said.

Victims included embassy security guards, police and passersby
as well as office workers in high-rise buildings, some more than
500 meters away. The Australian Embassy will be closed until
further notice. Among the confirmed dead is an embassy gardener,
Anton Sudjarwo.

The explosion left a one-meter deep, three-meter diameter
crater and ripped through the embassy's iron fence, bringing to
mind the craters following the explosions of the JW Marriott
hotel last year and the Bali bomb in 2002.

The attack followed warnings issued by the United States and
Australia over the past week, which said their citizens in
Indonesia should stay away from foreign hotels and defer non-
essential travel to Indonesia.

Bomb threats were also reported at other buildings and hotels
in the city.

One of the buildings that suffered a lot of damage, with
shattered windows reaching up to the top story, included the one
across from the Australian Embassy -- the Plaza 89 office
complex, which houses the Jakarta offices of mining firm PT
Freeport Indonesia as well as the Greek Embassy. Many of the
injured suffered gashes and lacerations from broken windows.

Despite the fact that many foreigners work in the buildings
surrounding the blast, no foreign fatalities were reported.

It was the third bomb attack in the capital this year after
one exploded in Depok and another blew up inside the General
Election Commission's office in Menteng.

At least four motorcycles, 10 cars, two buses and a police
truck were badly damaged.

The police immediately linked the embassy bombing with the
Marriott bombing on Aug. 5, 2003 and the Bali bombing on Oct. 12,
2002. Both had a similar modus operandi: A car bomb on a street
next to a site with a large number of foreign citizens.

Like the Bali and Marriott bombings, police suspect that the
driver of the vehicle was blown up, following the findings of
nearly unrecognizable bodies near the site -- in this case a
mangled torso. A police source said they suspected there wer two
suicide bombers. "We've already found the chassis of the car
bomb," the source said.

However witnesses said two motorcyclists intentionally rammed
their motorcycles into the wall of the embassy's security post.

The driver "repeatedly revved it up just seconds before the
explosion," a witness said.

Police were quick to name two suspected masterminds -- the two
Malaysian-born fugitives who are also prime suspects in the Bali
and Marriott bombings -- Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top.
Police have linked them with the United Nations-listed terrorist
network Jamaah Islamiyah.

Thursday's tragedy is a test case to the newly installed 75
-member police antiterror squad, which was trained by officers
from the United States. Last week, the squad's chief Brig. Gen.
Gorries Mere and Bali bombing convict Ali Imron were spotted
having coffee at an upmarket cafe in Central Jakarta. Police
claimed that the meeting was part of an investigation.

This latest terror act occurred at the precise moment that
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar was at the legislature
discussing security conditions prior to the elections.

Officials who later arrived at the site included both
presidential candidates. Hassan Wirayuda, the foreign minister,
said he would discuss antiterror cooperation with his Australian
counterpart Alexander Downer, who was scheduled to arrive late
Thursday along with nine forensics experts.