Grenade explodes near U.S.-owned property

Damar Harsanto and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bogor

A grenade exploded in the early hours of Monday morning in a Kijang van traveling close to U.S.-owned property here, killing one passenger and injuring the driver.

Meanwhile, the police gave conflicting statements over the blast.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the grenade was meant to be tossed at an unoccupied house belonging to the U.S. Embassy but it prematurely exploded inside the car at 3:30 a.m.

"Four people inside the car planned to throw the grenade at the building, but the grenade went off prematurely," Da'i told reporters.

However, later in the same day, some other senior police officers added "some clarifications" to Da'i's statement.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara said it was too early to say whether those in the van were targeting the U.S. Embassy house, located on Jl. Teluk Betung in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

"It is as yet uncertain whether the U.S. Embassy house was the target," Makbul said.

Separately, National Police spokesman Comr. Gen. Saleh Saaf agreed with Makbul's statement.

The blast is the fifth explosion to have rocked the capital the year. Thus far, the police have as yet been unable to reveal the motives or groups behind these attacks.

Monday's blast, which occurred less than one kilometer from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and the residence of the U.S. Ambassador, killed Abdul Azis Jenis, 30 and slightly injured the van's driver, Yusuf, 28, in the abdomen. Yusuf was later seized by residents in the neighborhood. Two other passengers on board, identified as Lili and Taita, managed to flee the scene.

Right after the blast, the police, directed by Yusuf, went to the assailants' hideout in Gunung Putri, Bogor, not far from the southern outskirts of Jakarta, and managed to recover two sticks of TNT and 20 FN bullets from Azis' rented house in Griya Bukit Jaya, Tlajung Udik village, Gunung Putri, Bogor.

At Yusuf's residence, the police managed to arrest two other suspects, Hani, 28, and Riyan, 23, but another suspect, Harun, managed to escape out the back door.

Bachtiar said the driver told police that the four men had been planning to collect a debt at a house near the U.S. Embassy residence, but the police nevertheless believed the house was the target.

The explosion caused no substantial damage to nearby buildings, but it cracked the windshield of the van, damaged the front passenger door and left a hole in the floor under the front passenger seat. The car's registration plate had been covered with black tape to convert the original number of B 8602 ZD to B 602 SI.

Three police patrol cars were seen parked nearby the scene following the blast.

An official statement from the U.S. Embassy confirmed that one of the houses near the scene belonged to the U.S. Embassy.

"The U.S. Embassy owns several properties in the Menteng area where this explosion occurred; however, no Americans were injured," the statement said.

The U.S. Embassy is also in direct contact with the Indonesian National Police and at this time there are no indications that U.S. Embassy properties or U.S. interests were targeted, it said further.

The U.S. Embassy, some two kilometers north of the scene of the blast, remained guarded as usual with around 10 armed police reinforcing embassy security guards. Two police trucks were also parked nearby.

Police said that thus far there had been no request from the U.S. Embassy to the police to add more officers to safeguard the former's properties here.

The embassy was closed for four days due to alleged al-Qaeda- linked terrorist threats on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack in the United States, and was reopened last Monday.