Police confirm no C4 in Marriott bombing
Police confirm no C4 in Marriott bombing
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Yuli Tri Suwarni,
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bandung
The National Police's forensic laboratory said on Monday the bomb
at the JW Marriott Hotel in the Mega Kuningan business complex in
South Jakarta did not contain C4.
"No trace of C4 was found at the crime scene. It is obvious
that the (strength) of this (bomb) was far below the bombs in
Bali," said the head of the laboratory, Brig. Gen. Dudon
Setiaputra, referring to last year's bombings on the resort
island that claimed 202 lives.
The bombing in Bali left a four-meter-long and 60-centimeter-
deep crater. The Marriott bombing, which left 11 people dead and
injured 148 others, left a two-meter-wide crater that penetrated
32 centimeters of concrete into the basement.
The forensic lab also found that the Marriott bomb contained
between 150 and 180 kilograms of explosives, much larger than
what detectives were saying a day earlier.
"We know that the bomb weighed that much from our discovery of
three plastic containers each containing between 50 and 60 kgs of
explosives," Dudon said.
The explosives were in two plastic jerricans and a gallon
water bottle.
Dudon said the bombs consisted of a black powder low explosive
and TNT, HMX and RDX high explosives.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told reporters in
Bandung police knew the names of the suspected perpetrators of
the Marriott bombing.
He refused to announce the names because the police are still
investigating the case.
Also, the National Police's top detective, Comr. Gen. Erwin
Mappaseng, released sketches of two men who are believed to have
bought the 1986 metallic blue Toyota Kijang used in the bombing.
One of the men was described as being "160-cm tall, having
straight hair, brown skin and speaking a South Sumatra dialect".
The other man was described as "168-cm tall with fair skin, curly
hair and speaking a slight Sumatra Malay dialect".
Police had said the first man was a hunchback, but Erwin
corrected this, saying "he walked like a cowboy".
If anyone recognizes the men, they are asked to contact the
police at (021) 523-444 or (021) 721-8309.
Erwin said the men purchased the Kijang from Sonny, a resident
of East Jakarta, on July 21. The first man negotiated with Sonny
over the price of the vehicle, agreeing to pay Rp 25.7 million
(US$2,988) from the original asking price of Rp 28 million.
The second man drove the Kijang after the sale was finalized.
Erwin also said police had obtained the results of a DNA
examination done on the man whose head was found on the fourth
floor of the hotel.
"The DNA examination confirmed that the man is Asmar Latin
Sani. This is supported by testimony from several people,
including his sister Amanda, and Muhammad Rois and Sardono
Siliwangi, who were arrested earlier," he said.
Rois and Siliwangi were arrested in the North Sumatra capital
of Medan and the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, respectively, in May.
They are suspected of having ties with the terrorist group Jamaah
Islamiyah.
Erwin declined to say whether Asmar was officially a suspect
in the Marriott bombing.
"It has still not been confirmed that he committed the
bombing, as it is possible that another man drove the van.
However, a security officer testified that he saw no one else
exit the van, and that the only person inside the vehicle was
him," the officer said.