Indonesian counter-terrorist police commandos secure the damaged Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta on July 17, 2009 after an explosion hit the Ritz-Carlton and nearby JW Marriot hotel killing at least seven people, including several foreigners and seriously wounding 48, officials said. -- PHOTO: AFP
JAKARTA - INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono believes the coordinated bombings of two luxury hotels which killed at least nine people in Jakarta on Friday were an 'act of terror,' a spokesman said.
Eyewitnesses accounts
'I heard two sounds like 'boom, boom' coming from the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton. Then I saw people running out,' security guard Eko Susanto told AFP.
Witness Intan told TV One one of the explosions wrecked the lobby of the Plaza Mutiara building.
SYDNEY - AN AUSTRALIAN man was among those injured in blasts at two luxury hotels in Jakarta that killed at least six people, his father told radio here Friday.
The man, who identified himself as Jim, told commercial radio his son had phoned him from the Indonesian capital to say his leg was wounded and he had lost hearing in one ear in an explosion at the JW Marriott hotel.
BOMB blasts ripped through the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta's business district on Friday, killing nine people and wounding dozens in attacks that could dent investor confidence in Indonesia.
A car bomb also blew up along a toll road in North Jakarta, police said without giving further details. Indonesia's Metro TV said two people had been killed. An unexploded bomb was also later found at the Marriott, police said.
SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA on Friday lifted its threat alert level for Indonesia, urging citizens to reconsider their need to travel in the wake of two luxury hotel blasts which killed at least nine people in Jakarta.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemned the attacks - in which at least two Australians were wounded - as 'barbaric' and an 'act of cowardice'.
'It's clear this is not a gas explosion but terrorist bombs,' presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said.
Senior lawmaker says there are indications' suicide attackers carried out Jakarta bombings.
The high-explosive bombs ripped through the two luxury hotels in Jakarta's business district on Friday, killing nine people and wounding over 40 in attacks that could dent investor confidence in Indonesia.
The high explosives bombs ripped through the two luxury hotels in Jakarta's business district on Friday, killing nine people and wounding dozens in attacks that could dent investor confidence in Indonesia.
An unexploded bomb was also later found at the Marriott, police said.
The apparently coordinated bombings are the first in several years and follow a period in which the government had made progress in tackling security threats from militant Islamic groups, bringing a sense of political stability to Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
Suspicion is likely to fall on remnants of the Jemaah Islamiah group, blamed for previous attacks including a car bombing outside the Marriott in 2003 as well as bombings on the resort island of Bali the previous year that killed 202 people.
'I think the attacks are devastating for the image of security that Indonesia has built up painstakingly over the past four years,' said Kevin O'Rourke, a political risk analyst in Jakarta.
'The attack is particularly severe for investor confidence because it took place despite strenuous counter-terrorist efforts by the government and has affected the hotels that are seen to be among the most secure in Jakarta and also either killed or wounded numerous prominent expatriate businesspeople.'
Tim Mackay, president director of cement maker PT Holcim Indonesia, was among those killed in the hotel attacks, the company said. Police said nine people had been killed including foreigners. More than 42 people were wounded.
Indonesian financial markets fell after the blasts, with the the rupiah down 0.7 per cent at 10,200 per dollar, prompting state banks to sell dollars to support the currency, traders said. Indonesian stocks were down some 2 per cent.
Witnesses said the bombings at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton were minutes apart. The hotels are near each other in a business area home to many offices, embassies and bars. Hundreds of police, some soldiers and ambulances were at the scene of the hotel attacks. Scores of foreigners and Indonesian hotel guests milled outside, some still wearing bathrobes.
The windows in the first floor of the Ritz-Carlton were blown out, indicating the blast may have been in the restaurant, which would have been busy with breakfast at the time.
The blasts will also be a blow for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, re-elected last week in a crushing election victory that reflected the former general's steady leadership and firm stance on security.
Both the parliamentary elections in April and the presidential poll this month passed peacefully, underscoring the progress made by the world's most populous Muslim nation since the chaos and violence that surrounded the downfall of ex-autocrat Suharto in the late 1990s.
Jemaah Islamiah was blamed for a string of attacks between 2002-2005 in Indonesia. Many militants have since been arrested. But an Australian security report on Thursday said Jemaah Islamiah could be poised to strike again. -- REUTERS, AP
