Sutiyoso bars bomb squad from combing his office
JAKARTA (JP): The bomb squad which was deployed to City Hall after someone called in a bomb threat to the building was barred from entering Governor Sutiyoso's office.
"Yes, I did not allow them to comb my office simply because there are lots of confidential documents (in there) which should be seen only by myself," the governor said.
The governor said the bomb threat, which proved to be a hoax, did not worry him. "I'm familiar with so many kinds of threats," said the retired three-star Army general.
Sutiyoso added that he checked his own office in the Balai Agung (Grand Hall) building, located next to the 21-story City Hall on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, which is also home to the U.S. Embassy.
The bomb threat was received at about 10:30 a.m. by Askia, a woman employed on 10th floor of the building. A male voice told her a bomb had been placed in City Hall.
Senior staffer Raya Siahaan said the building's security officers then contacted the Central Jakarta Police and informed them of the bomb threat.
About two hours later, the bomb squad arrived and ordered those who were still in their offices to evacuate the building while they searched the area.
Apparently confident the bomb threat was a hoax, the employees calmly left their offices and took the elevators and emergency stairs down to the lobby.
The bomb squad's search of the building lasted until late in the afternoon, meaning most of those employed in the building were late getting home.
Sutiyoso said bomb hoaxes had become a new trend in the capital. "It's a terror which has been designed to scare the public.
"But it (the bomb hoax at City Hall) could also be aimed at attempting to influence my position," the governor said. "And it could also be the work of somebody who did it simply for fun."
Since the blast in the basement parking lot of the 34-story Jakarta Stock Exchange building in South Jakarta, the city has been plagued by numerous bomb hoaxes called in by unidentified parties.
The explosion at the Jakarta Stock Exchange building last Wednesday at 3:17 p.m. was not preceded by a phoned in threat, though the building's power supply was turned on and off several times before the blast.
Separately, a top officer of the National Police Forensic Laboratory (Puslabfor) said on Monday that RDX, considered the most powerful and brisant of military explosives, was found in the remnants left after the explosion in the JSX building.
"Most of the debris from the explosion was swept away in the flood of water caused by the explosion in the parking lot. The remnants we found useful were the ones found in the bombed van," the officer who requested anonymity told The Jakarta Post.
"We used gas chromatography to break up the chemical components (of the remnants) and found, RDX."
RDX, a white crystalline powder in pure form with the chemical name cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, has a high degree of stability in storage.
It is mixed with a polymer like polyurethane to make it doughy and stretchable, and can be mixed in varying proportions with other explosives, like TNT (trinitrotoluene), for specified tasks, the officer said.
He added that the most deadly and popular variations of the explosive are "composition C-1 to composition C-3" which contain 80 percent RDX.
"It is much, much deadlier than TNT. Five kilograms of RDX is equivalent to some 20 kilograms of TNT," the officer said.
The explosive, which can be easily mistaken for plasticine, can be molded into the interiors of pens, letters, cigarette packs and soft toys. (07/ylt)