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Home-grown terrorists prime Jakarta suspects By John Aglionby in Jakarta Published: July 17 2009 15:55 | Last updated: July 17 2009 15:55 Home-grown Islamist terrorists, probably with ties to the Al-Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah, were the prime suspects for the bombing on Friday of two luxury hotels in the country's capital. The national police chief, General Bambang Danuri, declared that the attacks on the JW Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels were both carried out by suicide bombers using bombs "identical" to two homemade devices seized earlier this week during a raid on Islamists in Central Java. EDITOR'S CHOICE Audio slideshow: John Aglionby on whether the bombings will hit investment - Jul-17 Hotel explosions weigh on Indonesia stocks - Jul-17 Indonesia rising - Jul-09 JI's stated goal has long been to establish an Islamist caliphate in south-east Asia, and purge the world's most populous Muslim majority nation of its moderate and tolerate tendencies. It was blamed for the two Bali bombings, in 2002 and 2005, as well as the 2003 attack on the same JW Marriott hotel and the 2004 bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Since then, however, experts say it has splintered into several factions and offshoots. A report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Thursday said leadership tensions and the recent release from jail of some 100 radicals who were imprisoned over the last seven years "raise the possibility that splinter factions might now seek to re-energise the movement through violent attacks". President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who was re-elected earlier this month suggested none too subtly in an emotional speech at the presidential palace that his political opponents might have been involved. While he did not name anyone, he left little doubt he was referring to Prabowo Subianto, the one-time son-in-law of the former strongman Suharto who was the running mate of Mr Yudhoyono's rival and predecessor, Megawati Sukarnoputri, in this month's presidential election. Mr Prabowo, a former general who has admitted to dirtry tricks including kidnapping student activists during the dying days of the Suharto regime, has refused to acknowledge Mr Yudhoyono's election victory, citing numerous voting irregularities. But he quickly and vehemently denied any involvement in Friday's bombings. According to Sidney Jones, an expert on Indonesia and south-east Asian radical Islam with the International Crisis Group think-tank, a politically-driven attack would be a "radical departure for Indonesia". She said there was a wide cast of Islamist suspects to choose from. "There are about 12 dangerous figures involved in radical activities who are fugitives and have nothing to lose by doing something like this attack," she said. Top of the list of potential plotters of Friday's attacks is Noordin Top, aged 40, a Malaysian explosives expert and JI's military commander who led a terrorist cell with compatriot Azahari Husein until security forces shot the latter in November 2005. Close behind him are Dulmatin, a bombmaker who is one of the few involved in the 2002 Bali bombing still at large, and Umar Patek, a terrorist who is now thought to be in the southern Philippines. Abu Bakar Bashir, JI's joint founder and spiritual leader, who was widely believed by many foreigners to have been involved in the 2002 Bali attacks, formed a new group, Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid in 2008. He continues to preach virulently anti-Western sermons but is not thought to be orchestrating terrorist attacks. Indonesia's counter terrorist campaign has won high marks from governments around the world in the last five years. This is partly due to its ability to detect plots and arrest militants before they become active. But it is also thanks to officers' success in persuading radicals to change their ways, mainly through offering incentives such as funding children's schooling. This has exacerbated the divisions within the radical movement, with some groups turning away from violence at any price and willing to work with the authorities and others remaining committed to violent jihad. The ASPI report, by Noor Huda Ismail and Carl Ungerer, says these divisions have made it harder to track some of the most hardened terrorists. "The profile of the would-be radical as young, male, religiously-devout, alienated, angry, disenfranchised, and living on the edges of society is outdated and not reflective of the broader JI membership." The authors believe militants are recruited from myriad backgrounds and radicalised, often by seeking religious justification for their struggle. "Some admit to 'shopping' on-line for religious edicts that would support violence jihad," the report said. These groups' capability is considered variable. The International Crisis Group's Ms Jones believes an operation like the double hotel bombing "would have taken months to plan", which would discount most groups. She did not rule out, however, that the Islamist radicals might have had political motives. "This might have been planned when it became clear at the beginning of the year that Yudhoyono was well ahead in the polls and they wanted to destabilise him in some way," she said. JI attacks have achieved little in the past beyond scaring off foreign investors and holidaymakers for short periods of time. Most experts believe it will be weeks, if not months to identify the perpetrators and their motives. "If this is a one-off incident then it should not be too difficult to nail the terrorists," said one senior western diplomat. "But if it's just the start of something that escalates then it could become very complicated." ++++ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/76c46078-7276-11de-ba94-00144feabdc0.html Suicide bombs kill 8 in Jakarta hotels By John Aglionby in Jakarta Published: July 17 2009 03:08 | Last updated: July 17 2009 17:45 Indonesia's government warned on Friday of a campaign to destabilise the country after co-ordinated suicide bombs on two luxury hotels in the country's capital, Jakarta, killed eight people including at least five foreigners. Police said the early-morning attacks, which injured at least 61, had the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiyah, the south-east Asian terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda. If true, this would be its first major operation since carrying out four attacks between 2002 and 2005 in Bali and Jakarta.
