Police finish preliminary reconstruction of Marriott blast

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A day after police confirmed the link between Asmar Latin Sani, who allegedly drove the explosives-laden van in the Marriott bombing, with a member of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) in custody in connection with the Bali case, International Crisis Group chairwoman Sydney Jones indicated that the fight against the regional terror group was far from over.

"I believe that most of the JI members are still here and they have key positions," she told Antara.

Jones also believed that the strong ideology and command by JI members in Indonesia would likely spell other terror acts in the future.

A police source had said they found documents during the arrest of nine alleged JI members in Semarang last month that listed about 50 strategic points in the country that could be targeted by the terror group, although the statement was instantly denied by National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Basir Barmawi.

The Aug. 5 bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel, the fifth bombing in the capital this year, killed 12 people -- mostly taxi drivers and security guards -- and injured 147 others.

On Tuesday, a week after the attack, police claimed they had completed 90 percent of the investigation at the blast site.

By Wednesday, they had confirmed that the preliminary reconstruction of the bomb attack was complete, as National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis told The Jakarta Post.

Zainuri said the bombing was reconstructed by investigators mainly based on eyewitnesses' statements to provide investigators with a better idea as to how the car bomb exploded, explosives used and the direction of projectiles.

The explosion made a crater over two meters in diameter, which penetrated the 32-centimeter-thick concrete above the basement.

National Police Forensics Central Laboratory chief Brig. Dudon Satyaputra said the explosives were delivered in a metallic blue Toyota Kijang.

Dudon said the bomb consisted of a mixture of low explosives gunpowder, sulfur and carbon, and high explosives TNT, RDX and HMX placed in two blue plastic jerrycans and one 19-liter water bottle.

Each of the containers carried about 50 kilograms of explosives, so it was estimated that around 150 kilograms of explosives was used in the Marriott bombing.

"The bomber also placed four jerrycans containing a mixture of gasoline and kerosene around the explosives," said Dudon.

The fuel ignited upon explosion to produce fireballs that razed the lobby of the hotel. Most of the victims died from severe burns.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar claimed yesterday that police had identified those JI members believed responsible for the Marriott bombing.

"Our personnel are already conducting surveillance on several people suspected to be a part of this team," he said, and declined to mention any names for reasons of security.

He also reasserted that the severed head found on the Marriott's fifth floor along with two hands and parts of a leg belonged to Asmar.

"Our investigation resulted in the identification of that victim, possibly a suspect, as Asmar," he told reporters at the City of Jakarta Media Center at the Sari Pan Pacific hotel, Central Jakarta.

The identification was confirmed by a DNA comparison with Asmar's parents, his sister Amanda and his associates -- who had been arrested earlier in Pekanbaru, Riau, and Jakarta.

Police had initially identified Asmar through two detained JI members, who said he was recruited by a JI cell in Pekanbaru and belonged to a squad led by senior JI leader, Mustofa.

Upon his arrest in early July, Mustofa said he was the leader of JI's Jakarta headquarters. He also said he was former head of a JI regional jurisdiction, Mantiqi Thalid III, which oversees the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, Malaysia and the Philippines.

It is also alleged that Mustofa is in charge of a special suicide squad believed to have 10 to 15 members, one of whom is suspected to have been Asmar.

Da'i also showed reporters some photographs of those Bali bombing suspects who were still at large, including Dr. Azhari and Dulmatin.