At Least Nine Dead In Bomb Attack On Australian Embassy In Jakarta

by Ian Timberlake
JAKARTA, Sept 9 (AFP) - A car bomb exploded outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on Thursday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 180 just weeks before elections in Indonesia and Australia, a key US ally in Iraq.
Police said the blast, which punched windows out of tower blocks and mangled the embassy`s security perimeter, bore hallmarks of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, blamed for a string of deadly attacks in Indonesia.
Glass showered down from office buildings as people fled the explosion, dragging wounded friends and colleagues behind them. The blast shot a plume of smoke into the sky and left smouldering debris in the street.
Police said they suspected the attack was carried out by a top Jemaah Islamiyah bombmaker, Malaysian Azahari Husin. He is being hunted for the 2002 Bali bombings and last year`s attack on Jakarta`s Marriott Hotel.
"Our suspicion is that it was by the same group, especially the bombmaker, Dr. Azahari. This is what we can conclude from the modus operandi and our investigation," national police chief Da`i Bachtiar said.
A total of 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed in the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali. The August 2003 car bombing of the Marriott Hotel left 12 dead.
Thursday`s attack came two days before the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks and ahead of October 9 polls in Australia and a September 20 presidential vote in Indonesia, the world`s largest Muslim-populated nation.
It followed fresh warnings from the United States and Australia that militants may strike again in Indonesia.
There was chaos in the business and residential district of Kuningan as those caught in the force of the blast attempted to flee.
"It was like an earthquake, like thunder," said Budi Harianto, 30, who was wounded in the leg as he queued at the embassy to get a visa.
Indonesia`s Health Minister Ahmad Suyudi said at least nine people were killed and 182 were injured. Health officials earlier said 85 had been discharged from hospital with two remaining in intensive care.
The explosion at around 10:30 am (0330 GMT) prompted the immediate evacuation of the embassy and caused a sharp drop of nearly four percent on the Jakarta stock market, although prices later recovered.
Several vehicles in front of the embassy were blown apart by the explosion, which blasted a deep crater into the ground.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri cut short a visit to a royal wedding in Brunei to return to Jakarta. Speaking on a tour of the blast site and a hospital she defended her government`s efforts to tackle terrorism.
"We should continue to battle terrorism and this is something we have already done so far," she said, echoing condemnation from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and governments around the world.
Megawati faces a challenge on September 20 from her former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who made an earlier hospital visit.
The conservative Australian government`s staunch support for the US invasion of Iraq is a key issue in the election there. Prime Minister John Howard said his country would not bow to terrorism.
"This is not a nation that is going to be intimidated by acts of terrorism. We are a strong, robust democracy," Howard told reporters.
In March an attack on trains in Madrid just before a Spanish election was credited with causing the defeat of a conservative administration which had also allied itself with the United States over Iraq.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer who arrived in Jakarta late Thursday, said the attack was a deliberate strike on Australian interests, but added that it was not linked to either Australia`s or Indonesia`s elections.
Downer said embassy staff had "miraculously" escaped with only minor injuries largely thanks to heavy reinforcements in and around the complex.
He said a five-year-old girl, who had become an Australian citizen only days earlier, was the only Australian seriously injured in the blast. The girl`s Indonesian mother was among the dead.
Both Australia and the United States last week raised new warnings urging their citizens to avoid Western hotels in Jakarta. The US embassy here said it would keep staff home and operate on a restricted basis following the attack.
Further condemnation of the attack came late Thursday from Muslim groups in Indonesia, with Din Syamsuddin, head of the country`s top Islamic authority urging authorities to act swiftly against the perpetrators.