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| Southeast Asia |
| Police confirm blast-Bali link |
| 2003-08-06 |
| INDONESIAN police confirmed late yesterday the Jakarta Marriott Hotel bomb was made from the same chemicals as terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah used to make the October 12 Bali bomb and an earlier bomb which exploded outside the Jakarta residence of the Philippines Ambassador. Jakarta chief detective Erwin Mapasseng confirmed police had found the engine and chassis numbers of the red Toyota car bomb and had located its owner. However, the owner sold the car about two weeks ago to a man he described as about 160cm tall with a strong muscular body who spoke a dialect not common in Jakarta. He is now working with authorities to compile a three-dimensional model of the buyer. This guy would be a coordinator or the bomb builder. General Mapasseng said a body found in the Toyota car did not fit the description of the man who bought the car two weeks earlier. It is understood that the man’s head was found on the third floor of the Marriott and that his facial features were recognisable. Low level cannon fodder. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said he was confident the car registration details would lead to an early breakthrough in the case. It was vehicle details from the crime scene which led investigators to Amrozi and broke open the Bali investigation. "Just like the chassis number from Bali, we are hoping the discovery of car parts, including the rego plate, will provide the opportunity for an early breakthrough," Mr Keelty said. No doubt the buyer used a phoney name, but the drawing should help. Bet he left town as soon as it went off. He said he and Indonesian police chief Da’i Bachtiar, who made a statement soon after the blast, had agreed on the need to replicate the successful Bali investigation. A team of 24 Australian police experts plus two civilian specialists are working with Indonesian police, and Australian investigators have already made several breakthroughs in the case. They say the bomb was made from 25kg of potassium chlorate – the material used in the Bali bomb. The crater at the JW Marriott Hotel is about the same size as the Bali blast crater despite the bomb being only a quarter of its size. The chemicals used in the Jakarta hotel bombing included high and low explosive – calcium chlorate and aluminium powder, TNT, RDX and petrol. General Mapasseng said these were similar to the chemicals used in the Bali car bomb and also a bomb outside the ambassador’s home in which the Ambassador was injured and another person killed. Bomber’s trademark, once they find something that works they stick to it. That’ll help trace him. The evidence provides a vital link between those attacks, committed by JI, and the latest attack. Amrozi, who is expected to be sentenced to death today has admitted that he was involved in the ambassador bomb. General Mapasseng also said it was not known whether the Marriott bomb could have been one of the bombs police had been searching for since the arrest of several JI figures in Jakarta last month. At the same time police also uncovered a large JI chemical factory in Semarang, East Java, where hoards of calcium chlorate were located. Now it’s up to good old fashioned police work. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 The head of Indonesia's police force, General Da'i Bachtiar, admitted that his officers had recently lost their capacity to track suspected members of Jemaah Islamiah, believed responsible for the Marriott attack. "In the past we could detect their position, their movements, through the [communication] devices they used. Now they don't use them any more so we don't know which target they have chosen. That's what happened." Either changed cell phones, or stopped using them. They're learning as well. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-8-6 10:58:08 AM |
| #1 Update: The bomb, which ripped through a hotel in Jakarta, was detonated by a mobile phone, police said. "This modus operandi is similar to the Bali bombing and the bombing at the house of the Philippines ambassador," said national detective chief Erwin Mappaseng. Like I said, bomber's trademark. Bet the guy driving the van didn't know it was going to go off with him in it. Removes one witness who could talk. At a press conference, Mappaseng also released a sketch of the last known buyer of the Kijang van which exploded outside the Marriott. He was described as aged about 30 and originating from Lampung in South Sumatra. He's the guy to find. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-8-6 10:52:22 AM |