Suspected suicide bomber kills 10 at Jakarta hotel

At least 10 people were killed today when a suspected suicide bomber blew up a car in a huge explosion outside a luxury hotel popular with foreigners in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

More than 100 people were wounded in the blast, which also damaged embassies and nearby office blocks in the city’s business district. One foreigner was said to be among the dead.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack at the Marriott Hotel, which appeared to be aimed at Indonesia’s foreign community and was “very likely” carried out by a suicide bomber, Jakarta governor Sutiyoso said.

Suspicion immediately fell on Islamic extremists, including Jemaah Islamiyah - a regional militant group with links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida.

Its alleged leader, Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, is facing trial for treason over a series of bombings in 2000. Dozens of its members are also accused of carrying out last year’s devastating Bali nightclub bombings.

Indonesian and foreign officials have been on high alert since the trials began and have long warned of the possibility of more attacks.

Officials at several hospitals said 103 people had been injured by the explosion, which shook a large area. Shattered glass and debris littered the ground for more than two blocks around the 33 storey hotel.

Pools of blood stained the hotel lobby and outside as a fire sent plumes of thick black smoke into the air.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the area.

“People were screaming, panicking,” said Sodik, who was having lunch on the 27th floor of an adjacent building. “I thought it was an earthquake.”

An AP photographer on the scene minutes after the blast saw three burned bodies lying in the wreckage of a car outside the badly damaged hotel.

The Marriott is popular place for foreign visitors to stay in Jakarta.

Regarded as one of the city’s most secure hotels, it has been the venue for many diplomatic receptions held by the US and other embassies. During the last two years, US officials have held 4th of July celebrations there.

The explosion came four days after President Megawati Sukarnoputri vowed to destroy the terror networks responsible for a series of bombings across the world’s largest Muslim nation, saying the “domestic branch of the international terrorism movement is a terrifying threat”.

In a state-of-the-nation address, she vowed to “dismantle the terrorist network to its roots”.

The blast came two days before a court in Bali was scheduled to deliver its verdict in the trial of Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who is accused of planning and carrying out the October 12 nightclub bombings.

He is the first of about three dozen suspects to have been tried in the case, and is facing a possible death sentence if convicted. He and other defendants are allegedly members of Jemaah Islamiyah.

Mellanie Solagratia, the hotel’s public relations manager, said most of the damage appeared to have occurred in the basement and on the second floor. She said occupancy in the 333 room hotel was at 77%.

Witness Jaganathan Nadeson said he looked out of his window on the 22nd floor after the blast and saw a vehicle engulfed in flames in front of the hotel - apparently a car bomb, he said.

Since last year’s terrorist bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, including 26 Britons, local and international authorities have warned that more attacks were likely in Indonesia – possibly by Jemaah Islamiyah.

Jakarta has been struck by a number of bombings in recent years as Indonesia grapples with a myriad of security problems and political turmoil.

“I heard a big bang and I tried to get out of the building as quickly as possible,” said Asroni, a member of staff at the hotel, as he picked shards of glass from his uniform. “The smoke was getting into my lungs.”

The hotel’s lobby plate glass windows were shattered, as were row after row of upper floor windows.

The lobby was badly damaged, with chairs and tables strewn about.

Inside a ground floor restaurant of an adjacent building, tables were covered with the remnants of half-eaten lunches and broken plates and glass.

Ceiling and wall panels were scattered in the street outside, exposing the bare concrete pillars. But structurally, the building appeared to be sound.

The adjacent Rajawali building houses the embassies of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

None of the staff were injured, officials said.

“In the Swedish Embassy there was shattered glass, and one of the inner ceilings caved in,” said vice consul Viveca Lofberg.

Another office worker named Iin said most of the casualties appeared to be security guards who were stationed in front of the Marriott.

“I thought a plane must have hit the building,” he said.