MOST of a severed head that probably belonged to a suicide bomber was found late yesterday afternoon on the fifth floor of an office building next door to the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
| "Bob? Is this your head?" |
The partial head, which included the scalp and most of the face, was found in the Menara Gracia building, Indonesian forensic investigators said on condition of anonymity. The location was similar to that of the suicide bomber's head found after the Marriott Hotel blast in the city. Asmar Latin Sani's head was found on a fifth floor after last year's Marriott bombing, catapulted through the vehicle roof by the force of the explosives.
| Lends a new dimension to the phrase "popping one's nut," doesn't it? |
The number of dead in the Jakarta embassy blast is expected to increase, perhaps to as many as 12, Indonesian police said yesterday. The remains of up to three suicide bombers are still unaccounted for. All nine bodies identified so far were victims, Indonesia's anti-terrorism chief Pranowo said yesterday, and both the remaining two corpses that were in doubt had been claimed by grieving families. The two heads painstakingly reconstructed by forensic scientists in recent days belonged to the last two victims identified. It is likely the head found in the Menara Gracia building will prove to be one of the most important finds in recent days. Forensic scientists now have the grisly task of trying to piece together as many as 117 small pieces of body in an attempt to determine how many suicide bombers there were, and to try to ascertain their identities. "The perpetrators' bodies were scattered," Brigadier-General Pranowo said. "We don't know for sure how many bodies there were."
| Count all the lips and divide by two? |
He confirmed blood samples had been taken for DNA-testing from as many as three families of suspected suicide bombing recruits. Investigation chief Suyitno Landung said suspects arrested across Java in recent months had confirmed three potential suicide bombers were recruited by Nordin Mohammad Top, the Jemaah Islamiah operative wanted in connection with the Bali and Marriott bombings. "Even their families have let them go," Inspector-General Suyitno said. "That's who we are concentrating on." The suicide letters that may have been written by the embassy blast bombers were written a few months ago, he said. "In the letter it says he is ready to commit suicide. He informed his family. It was some kind of will." |