WORLD> Asia-Pacific
|
WORLD> Asia-Pacific
|
|
Six killed in central Jakarta hotel bombings - police
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-17 11:17 MANCHESTER UNITED WAS TO STAY AT RITZ
Lydia Ruddy, a witness who lives in the area, said she heard an explosion and saw smoke coming from the Marriott, followed five minutes later by another explosion at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which is in the same area. An Australian man told local Radio 2UE his son had been hurt at the Marriott and was being taken to hospital. A Ritz Carlton employee said the Manchester United soccer team had been due to stay at the hotel ahead of an exhibition game in Indonesia early next week. Islamist militants from the regional Jemaah Islamiah organisation were blamed for numerous attacks between 2002-2005 in Indonesia, including bombings on the island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. Many militants have since been arrested. But an Australian security report on Thursday said Jemaah Islamiah could be poised to strike again. Leadership tensions in JI and recent prison releases of JI members raised the possibility that splinter groups might now seek to re-energise the movement through violent attacks, said the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The report said JI was now a splintered group which may not be capable of replicating mass casualty attacks, but warned there was evidence that JI members released from prison "are gravitating towards hardline groups who continue to advocate al Qaeda-style attacks against Western targets". "These hardline groups continue to believe that the use of violence against the "enemies of Islam" is justified under any circumstances," said the report.
|
