Govt, police link Marriot bombing to Jamaah Islamiyah
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is keeping open the possibility of regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah's involvement in the bomb attack on JW Marriot Hotel on Tuesday.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the role of the al Qaeda-affiliated group in the latest bombing that hit Jakarta could be connected to the ongoing trials of their members in Bali and their alleged spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir in Jakarta.
"I think the ongoing trials of JI members have made the country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks," Susilo declared.
He said the government had also been aware of the possibility of bomb attacks following the escape of JI figure Fathur Rohman Al-Gozhi, a bomb expert, from his maximum security prison in the Philippines in mid-July.
Susilo was speaking to the press after presiding over a meeting on security following Tuesday's blast. Police said 10 people were killed in the attack.
The Denpasar District Court will hand down its verdict on alleged JI member Amrozi, who is charged with planning and executing the bomb attacks on the island of Bali on Oct. 12, 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. He faces the death sentence if convicted.
Other suspects in the Bali bombings are standing trial and facing the same sentence.
JI has also been accused of masterminding the series of bombings that have rocked the country since 2000.
Singaporean daily The Straits Times quoted a "JI operative" as saying on Wednesday that the regional terror group had claimed responsibility for the hotel bombing.
Speaking during the same conference, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police had been aware of possible terror attacks following the arrest of nine alleged JI members in Jakarta and the Central Java towns of Semarang and Magelang late in July.
"We believe this group was plotting terror attacks in several places in Indonesia, but we failed to predict where they would strike.
"Following the arrests, I think the other members of the group who remain at large have changed their strategy, including how they communicate with each other, and this makes it more difficult for us to find them," Da'i said.
Da'i was referring to a group of suspected JI members led by a man identified as Mustofa.
Police sized more than 1,000 detonators and other explosives, assault rifles and ammunition following a nationwide crackdown on terrorist cells in 11 cities in Java between July 4 and July 11.
Susilo said, however, that the security authorities had yet to conclude definitively that JI was behind the hotel bombing.
"It could have been perpetrated by JI or Acehnese separatists, or other parties, including communists. The terrorists are targeting Indonesia because we are currently busy with a number of national and international events, including the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly and the Independence Day celebrations," he said.