Attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The attack on the Marriott Hotel occurred on August 5, 2003 in the Indonesian capital Jakarta , just a few days before the expected verdict against Amrozi bin Nurhasyim , one of the main suspects in the 2002 Bali attack . The explosion cost a total of twelve people Life including the driver of the car.

Only three weeks earlier, the parliament in Jakarta had been the target of an attack.

Background and course of action

The worst terrorist attack in Indonesian history on the holiday island of Bali in autumn 2002 shook the country in an unprecedented dimension. In the course of the investigation, the police arrested several prime suspects. From April 2003 Amrozi had to answer to a judge in the island's capital Denpasar , the spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir in Jakarta.

On Tuesday afternoon, August 5th, a violent detonation shook the American JW Marriott Hotel in the center of the capital Jakarta. The information about the victims was initially unclear. The car bomb hidden in a pickup truck eventually killed twelve people and injured 149, including two Americans , two Singapore nationals and one New Zealander .

The hotel was a popular meeting place for foreign diplomats and business people. One of the victims was a Dutch national and manager of a Rabobank subsidiary . The explosion destroyed the lobby of the hotel and the surrounding buildings, such as the neighboring Sailendra restaurant, in some cases severely. Several vehicles caught fire. The radical Islamic organization Jemaah Islamiyah was held responsible for the attack, which caused outrage around the world . The Singapore newspaper The Straits Times quoted a member of Jemaah Islamiyah as saying: "The attack is a warning to the government" and "No Islamic brother may be executed".

The Achinese Liberation Movement , which was first included in the group of suspects, denied any involvement in the act.

Investigations and arrests

Even before the attack, the police arrested several men who had confessed to their involvement after the explosion, and three others were arrested afterwards. Indonesian officials confirmed that there was sufficient evidence against them. One was accused of hiring the van driver , Asmar Latin Sani, who blew himself up in the car. Body parts of the suicide bomber were later found among the rubble.

The Thai authorities, with the help of the FBI, arrested one of the masterminds in Ayutthaya , the Indonesian Riduan Bin Isamabudian (also "Hambali"), who was also linked to the attack in Bali, and his wife three weeks later . He is said to have financed the act with 45,000 US dollars. He is to the liaison to Osama bin Laden's organization Al-Qaeda have been in the region and probably had another stop on the Asian-Pacific Summit planned, which in October in Bangkok took place.

Police also suspected two Malaysian nationals of being involved in the bombing. Dr. Azahari Husin, an electronics expert, and Noordin Mohammed are suspected of having designed and built the car bomb and the main explosive device that killed most of the people in front of the Safi Club in Bali.

On October 29, the investigative authorities in Cirebon in the northeast of the island of Java arrested 29-year-old Tohir and 26-year-old Ismail. Both confessed their complicity, showed remorse and apologized to the victims' families. They said they worked with the main Malaysian suspects.

Just five weeks after the attack, the Marriott Hotel opened its doors to new guests. In August 2004, a court sentenced some family members to several years in prison.

The main bomb maker of the Jemaah Islamiyah, the Malaysian national Azahari bin Husin , died in November 2005. He was most likely the one who built the explosive device that exploded in front of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.

See also

Web links

Coordinates: 6 ° 13 ′ 37.7 ″  S , 106 ° 49 ′ 36.5 ″  E