Govt condemns Marriott bombing, asks people to stay calm

Govt condemns Marriott bombing, asks people to stay calm

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The government condemned on Tuesday the bombing in the driveway
of JW Marriott Hotel in South Jakarta that killed 13 people and
seriously wounded more than 140 others.

The government also called on people to stay calm despite the
incident, saying that the government would tighten security in
public places and immediately arrest the terrorists.

"The government expresses deep condolences to the victims of
the bombing and their families. The government will immediately
arrest those responsible for this inhuman attack," Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, the coordinating minister for political and security
affairs, told reporters while visiting the scene of the bomb
blast.

The visit was made right after the bomb blast at midday. It
was the fifth bomb attack that hit Jakarta this year, but this
was the only one that has brought wide repercussions in the lives
of Jakartans, as it was the first bomb blast that has claimed
lives.

Susilo asserted that the public must help police hunt down the
perpetrators and pass on information to the security authorities.

In order to prevent such an incident from recurring, Susilo
called on owners of restaurants and hotel chains, malls and other
public places to beef up security on their premises. "Don't think
that open public places are safe," he said.

Asked about the motive of the bombing, Susilo said that it was
too early to tell.

Separately, Vice President Hamzah Haz called on the people to
stay calm after the incident.

Interviewed by journalists shortly before he attended a
Cabinet meeting, Hamzah said that the government would beef up
security measures in public places as the security in those
places was related to investors' confidence.

Asked if the attack deliberately targeted an American facility
here, Hamzah said that "it may have been the goal, but the move
may not be an organized one."

The Five-star JW Marriott which opened in September 2001 is
part of Washington-based Marriott International, one of the
world's largest hotel groups.

Marriott International, founded by J.S. Marriott in the 1950s,
manages 2,600 hotels in 66 countries and employs about 129,000
people

Another Marriott hotel situated on the 40th floor of the World
Trade Center was devastated in the September 11 attacks on New
York and Washington in 2001, but its employees and guests managed
to escape.

Separately, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais
called on people not to blame each other or to convey premature
judgments over the incident, saying that it would be
counterproductive. "Let the police, which is a professional party
in this case, resolve the case," Amien said.

Amien said that people should remain calm, otherwise economic
activities would be disrupted and it would badly affect the
rupiah and the national economy.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Akbar Tandjung,
underlined the danger of terrorism.

"We must not take the threat of terrorism lightly. This has
been a real and present danger in this country," he said.

Pramono Anung Wibowo, the deputy secretary-general of the
ruling party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said
that the police must immediately arrest the perpetrators behind
the bomb blast. Only by a quick arrest of the perpetrators, he
said, the police could bring back the feeling of security among
ordinary people.

A.M. Fatwa, a politician from the National Mandate Party
(PAN), said that the bomb blast posed a challenge to the
government to resolve it immediately and to guarantee people's
safety, especially foreigners.

"The government must step up security measures in the foreign
embassies here. The safety of foreigners will affect the good
name of Indonesia in the international arena," said A.M. Fatwa,
who is also MPR deputy speaker.

The Regional Representatives Faction (FUD) of MPR condemned
the bombing and said that the incident was designed to terrorize
the public.

In a statement signed by faction deputy chairman Ghazali Abbas
Adnan, FUD speculated that the Marriott bombing might have been
an attempt to distract the public from the MPR Annual Session.