Jakarta Hotel Bombings: On the Ground

From chaos in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton to the presidential visit to victims in the hospital, The Daily Beast presents a wrap of developments and eyewitness accounts.

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WHO'S BEHIND THE BOMBINGS

A pair of explosions hit the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta on Friday just after 8 a.m. local time, killing eight and blowing out the windows of one hotel and leaving ambulances to pick up foreigners and locals from the city's business district. The JW Marriott explosion is reportedly a suicide bombing, the Jakarta Post reports. A police officer says that they have uncovered a body “whose head, hands and feet were found separately,” who is thought to have been the bomber. Officials have also uncovered a bag which they believe carried the bomb.

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Senior U.S. officials say that the bombings may have been the work of the Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiya, a group that is connected to al Qaeda. Its chief bomb-maker, Noordin Top, who is thought to have been behind the Bali disco bombing in 2002, was said to be at large and plotting a new attack. Noordin Top is known as a “charismatic” leader for the Jemaah Islamiya, who the U.S. Treasury Department and the UN Security Council have called a “terrorist financier.” According to former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke, Top is currently “one of the most wanted men in Asia.”

Another ringleader is thought to be Abu Bakar Bashir, a Muslim cleric who is reportedly the spiritual leader of JI. He was jailed for immigration violations in 2002 and released in 2005. On Friday morning, Bashir’s lawyer told the Jakarta Globe that his client had nothing to say about the attacks. Bashir apparently denies that the Jemaah Islamiyah group still exists.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced Friday that the bombings were indeed terrorist attacks. “This action was carried out by a terrorist group, though it is too early to say if it is the same network,” he said, referring to the Jemaah Islamiya.

Jakarta police tell The Post that the suspects in the bombing were guests at the JW Marriot, and had checked into room 1808 the night before. The bomb squad found a bomb in that room during their sweep of the building on Friday morning.

THE MOTIVES

“The hardliners in JI are fully supported by a group of younger, dedicated individuals who share a deep commitment to the cause, advocating al-Qa'ida-style attacks that directly target Westerners and Western interests if the time is ripe for them,” wrote Noor Huda Ismail and Carl Ungerer, joint authors of a policy paper titled Jemaah Islamiah: A Renewed Struggle?, in the Australian. “Rather than conforming to a specific terrorist profile, complex radicalisation processes shape these individuals into terrorist operatives.”

It won’t be a surprise if JI is to blame, as Indonesia has a long history of conflict with the terrorist group. Al Jazeera chronicles the history of the country’s 10-year struggle with JI, beginning in 1999, when Muslims and Christians massacred 9,000 people, drawing al-Qaeda links from the Middle East—many of whom went on to join JI.

THE VICTIMS

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited victims of the attack at the MMC hospital on Friday, where they are treating 36 people, including 15 foreigners. Though he only stayed 30 minutes, Yudhoyono asked hospital personnel to provide the best care possible to the victims.