Bomb wrecks top Jakarta hotel

A bomb explosion has killed at least 13 people and injured more than 100 at the luxury Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

The blast severely damaged five floors of the American-run hotel, shattering glass and damaging cars parked outside.

Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Jalil said it was a bomb attack and "clearly an act of terrorism".

At least one foreigner, the executive of a Dutch bank, is among the dead.

About 120 people from a range of nationalities are said to have been injured.

Earlier reports that nationals from the US, Australia and Malaysia had been killed have not been confirmed.
The governor of Jakarta, Sutiyoso, said the explosion was "very likely" to have been carried out by a suicide bomber.

Police chief General Da'i Bachtiar said there were similarities between Tuesday's attack and the devastating blast in Bali last October which left 202 people dead.

Police have said that in Bali, a suicide bomber detonated his bomb moments before an explosives-laden van blew up across the street.

Destruction

Police say the Jakarta bomb is thought to have been inside a Toyota car parked outside the lobby of the hotel, which is located near foreign embassies and office blocks.

The explosion came during a busy lunchtime in the commercial part of city.

Burned bodies lay amid pools of blood in the street among the shattered glass and twisted metal as flames and black smoke billowing up the building, correspondents say.

Jakarta Bombing Video: Explosions Hit Hotels In Indonesia

Video is coming in of the twin bombings in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, which killed at least six people at two hotels on Thursday.

Watch this video, which appears to be from Indonesian TV, and shows the extent of the damage to the two hotels - Ritz-Carlton and Marriott - including blown-out windows and scattered debris and glass:

Presiden Beberkan Temuan Intelijen "SBY Jadi Target"

Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono membeberkan salah satu temuan intelijen yang diterjemahkannya sebagai ancaman kepada dirinya. Temuan tersebut berupa beberapa lembar foto yang menggambarkan dua orang bertutup kepala hitam, tengah melakukan latihan menembak dengan menggunakan gambar Presiden sebagai target.

Foto-foto tersebut dipamerkan Presiden dalam konferensi pers di kantornya di kompleks Istana Jakarta, Jumat (17/7) siang, terkait dengan ledakan yang terjadi di kawasan Mega Kuningan pagi tadi.

"Saudara bisa menafsirkan apa artinya ancaman seperti itu. Dan temuan intelijen lain yang sekarang ada di pihak berwenang, tadi pagi terus terang, sebagaimana kebiasaan saya, saya ingin langsung datang ke lokasi. Namun, Kapolri dan semua pihak menyarankan jangan dulu karena memang belum steril, masih dibersihkan, masih disisir dan ancaman bisa datang, apalagi dengan contoh yang saya sampaikan tadi, ancaman fisik," kata Presiden.

"Tapi tentu hidup dan mati di tangan Allah SWT, saya tidak boleh terhalang untuk menjalankan tugas saya untuk rakyat untuk negara ini," sambungnya. "Pengamanan Presiden berada di pundak TNI, saya yakin TNI sudah mengambil langkah-langkah seperlunya," kata Presiden lagi.

Terhadap semua temuan intelijen tersebut, kata Presiden, terlepas, apakah hal tersebut terkait dengan ledakan hari ini atau tidak, menginstruksikan kepada semua jajaran penegak hukum untuk menjalankan tugas dengan obyektif dan benar. "Dapat dipertanggungjawabkan secara hukum. Andaikata tidak terkait, tetaplah harus dicegah," kata Presiden.

"Atas semuanya ini, saya selaku kepala negara dan kepala pemerintahan mengutuk aksi teror yang sangat memprihatinkan ini," kata Presiden.

Jakarta hotel bombs kill 9, dent investor confidence

"It was very loud, it was like thunder, it was rather continuous, and then followed by the second explosion," said Vidi Tanza, who works near the hotel, describing the blasts.

PROGRESS SINCE SUHARTO FELL

The bombings will also be a blow for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, re-elected last week in a crushing election victory that reflected the former general's steady leadership and firm stance on security.

Both parliamentary elections in April and the presidential poll this month passed peacefully, underscoring the progress made by the world's most populous Muslim nation since the chaos and violence that surrounded the downfall of ex-autocrat Suharto in the late 1990s.

"I would say it damages foreign investor confidence since the attacks appear aimed at Westerners, but not shatter it, so long as there is no further violence for some time," said Sean Callow, currency strategist at Westpac Bank in Sydney.

Jakarta hotel bombs kill 9, wound 42

Near-simultaneous bomb blasts ripped through the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta’s business district on Friday, killing nine people and wounding 42 others including foreign businessmen, police said.

A car bomb had also exploded along a toll road in North Jakarta, police said. Indonesia’s Metro TV said two people had been killed. No further details on that blast were available.

The bomb attacks, the first in several years, could badly dent investor confidence in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. The Indonesian government has made considerable progress in tackling security threats from militant Islamic groups in recent years, bringing a sense of greater political stability to the country.

Indonesia’s parliamentary elections in April and presidential elections earlier this month both passed peacefully, underscoring the progress made by the world’s most populous Muslim nation since the chaos and violence that surrounded the downfall of ex-autocrat Suharto in the late 1990s.

“After the elections going off so peacefully, the bomb blasts have come as a shock. Investors will be keeping a close eye on this one,” said Singapore-based HSBC economist Prakriti Sofat.

Windows were shattered at both hotels, which are close to each other in the Kuningan business area which is popular with foreigners and Indonesians, with many bars, offices and embassies.

Hundreds of police, some soldiers and ambulances were at the scene of the hotel attacks. A Reuters witness said about 100 foreign and Indonesian hotel guests and office workers were gathered outside, some still wearing bathrobes.

The windows in the first floor of the Ritz-Carlton were blown out, indicating the blast may have been in the restaurant, which would have been busy at that time of the morning.

The Marriott was badly damaged by a car bomb attack in 2003 that killed 12 people.

Police said foreigners were among the dead on Friday. Tim Mackay, president director of cement maker PT Holcim Indonesia, was killed in the attacks, the company said.

Indonesian financial markets fell after the blasts, with the rupiah down 0.7 percent at 10,200 per dollar, prompting state banks to sell dollars to support the currency, traders said. Indonesian stocks were down around 2 percent.

“I fell because of an explosion, I did not know where it came from, but after I saw clearly it came from the left side of the JW Marriott Hotel,” said Yanuar, an employee at the Marriott.

TV footage showed a wounded man being carried out on a stretcher with an oxygen mask attached to his face.