Indonesian hotel bomb suspect 'recruited by al-Qaida-linked group'

POLICE said yesterday the suspected suicide bomber in the Jakarta Marriott hotel blast that killed 10 people had been recruited by the al-Qaida-linked regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Two Jemaah Islamiyah members already in custody were shown a reconstructed photograph of the alleged bomber, identified him and admitted to recruiting him, said Indonesian chief of detectives Erwin Mappaseng.

The pair, Mappaseng said, identified the man in the photograph whose severed head was found at the bomb site as Asmar Latin Sami, a 28-year-old man from the island of Sumatra.

"The two Jemaah Islamiyah members recruited Asmar Latin Sani," Mappaseng said. "According to the two and Asmar's brother, they identified the face on the severed head as Asmar, based on a scar on his left temple."

Mappaseng gave no more details, but his comments are the latest sign that Jemaah Islamiyah, the group accused of last year's deadly nightclub blasts on Bali, was also behind Tuesday's blast.

Mappaseng identified the two Jemaah Islamiyah operatives as Sardono Siliwangi and Mohammad Rais. He said the two were arrested in June and accused of involvement in bombings and robberies on Sumatra.

Officials have already said the hotel attack, which also injured nearly 150 people, was similar to the October 12 Bali blasts.

The perpetrators in both attacks used the same kind of explosives and said the hotel bombers used a mobile phone to set it off the same method used in Bali.