Kindgo
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Monday July 14, 9:07 PM
Bomb hits Indonesian parliament building
A bomb exploded at Indonesia's parliament building, just days after the arrest of Jemaah Islamiyah terror suspects who were said to be planning attacks.
The blast shattered windows and a door in an office area but no one was hurt, police said Monday.
Jakarta city police chief Makbul Padmanegara could not say what type of bomb was used but added that it was dangerous enough.
National police spokesman Edward Aritonang said police don't yet have any evidence linking the bombing with the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror group.
Last Friday police seized huge quantities of explosives and announced the arrest of nine suspected members of JI, which is blamed for the Bali bombings last October and a string of other attacks.
The suspects were said to be planning further attacks and national police chief Dai Bachtiar had urged city residents to be on alert.
Monday's blast came on the same day a top JI bomb-maker, Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, escaped from a Philippines prison cell.
Al-Ghozi, an Indonesian, was serving 17 years for possession of explosives and was one of the most senior JI operatives ever to be caught by Asian law enforcement agencies.
Bachtiar said the bomb at parliament resembled two others which exploded in April behind the United Nations headquarters in central Jakarta and at the city's international airport.
"The fact is it's true the contents, the mechanism, the ingredients are the same or resemble the one found at the airport and also found behind the UN," Bachtiar told reporters.
He cautioned that does not mean the same group is responsible.
Eleven people were hurt when a bomb tore through a restaurant area at the airport within days of a small blast that caused no injuries near the UN building.
Police have previously linked those bombings to the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) but the rebels deny conducting attacks outside their home province of Aceh.
Central Jakarta police chief Sukrawardi said Monday's bomb at parliament, which was in recess at the time, almost certainly had a timer.
ElShinta radio said two security guards at the parliament complex were being questioned after Monday's blast. It said police also wanted to question officials of a mosque on the compound which had been used the night before the bombing for a wedding reception.
Parliament speaker Akbar Tanjung said legislators would ask for extra security.
Police said Friday 25 sacks of potassium chlorate were seized from four of the JI suspects who were arrested, along with several shoulder-launched rockets.
Police said the suspects had planned bombing attacks on malls and churches, and the assassinations of important people. They did not identify those targeted.
The Jakarta Post said police also seized a list of members of the People's Consultative Assembly, which is sited on the same compound as parliament.
Scores of JI followers have been arrested across five countries in the region. Reputed JI leader Abu Bakir Bashir is on trial in Jakarta for waging a holy war to try to topple the government and set up an Islamic state.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030714/1/3cj9p.html
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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