Indonesia: High Alert on Terrorism Threat

[bmolsson]

It was actually a cleric that was attacked.....

Bomb explodes near cleric's house


Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After over three weeks of bomb warnings and threats in Jakarta, a low-explosive bomb jolted the capital early on Wednesday morning.

The bomb exploded in the front yard of a house rented by Islamic preacher Mohammad Iqbal, 47, better known as Abu Jibril, in Pamulang, Tangerang, which borders the city.

No one was injured in the explosion, as Abu Jibril and his family were in a nearby mosque for dawn prayers.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said that the explosion at about 4:30 a.m. created a 20-centimeter diameter crater of about six centimeters depth and spread heavy smoke to surrounding houses.

"We found traces of black powder, several cables and a timer at the scene," he said.

Firman acknowledged that the police received a text message warning that a bomb would explode somewhere in Ciputat, South Jakarta, and Pamulang, hours earlier.

A witness said that three people on two motorcycles passed by the witness' place and the house rented by Abu Jibril just before the explosion.

After passing by several times, one of them threw a plastic bag into the house, which was followed by a blast.

Firman said that the police were still investigating the motive behind the bombing as well as determining the perpetrators.

"I talked to Abu Jibril when I was at the scene. We are still interrogating him, but we have not detained anyone nor named any suspect," Firman said.

Abu Jibril was allowed to go home in the evening.

Abu Jibril, who has a Malaysian wife, was first arrested under the Internal Security Act by the Malaysian authorities in June 2001 when he was about to deliver a sermon in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Malaysian police accused him of involvement in terrorist-related activities that posed a threat to the country's security and he remained in custody until his deportation from Malaysia on May 14 last year.

Following his deportation, Jibril was taken into police custody as he was suspected of being a senior member of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) network, which is accused of masterminding the 2002 Bali bombings, the 2003 JW Marriott hotel blast, and last year's blast outside the Australian embassy.

Officials also said that Jibril might be a close friend of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the alleged leader of JI.

Firman, however, doubted that the two Malaysian fugitive bombing masterminds Azahari Husin and Noordin Moh Top were behind the explosion.

"I have no reason to believe that the bomb in Pamulang had anything to do with Azahari and Noordin. They have a different style."

[Tribesman]

Why would anyone want to attack Indonesia? Kinda silly for a terrorist to do that if you ask me.
Yeah , well terrorists often do silly things
Wow. These terrorists are getting stupider and stupider... You'd think they'd try and use some of their resources killing non Muslims, rather than alienating their only possible recruitment source.

Right , some basics , while Indonesia is nearly 90% Muslim it does have a huge population , the 4th biggest in the world , so that means there are a hell of a lot of non-Muslims .
It is a big place , 17,000 islands spread over 4 time zones containing many ethnic groups and cultures .
It had a dictator who for 30 years made sure that everyone was Indonesian and followed the party line or else , but there were still a lot of people who fought against "their" government .
"Terrorism" in Indonesia coveres a very wide range of groups with very different agendas , some are religeous based , other political based , others still are area or ethnic based .
Then to those you can add those who have a problem with neighbouring governments rather than their own and those from neighbouring countries who have a problem with Indonesia .
So maybe your question should be , "Why are all these problems not covered in the media more often ?"
Though of course the "terrorists" in Aceh did get a few mentions after the Tsunami , maybe those other "terrorists" should pray for a big natural disaster to get themselves a few headlines .
And of course the "terrorists" in East Timor did get back in the news in the early '90s after being ignored by the world for 15 years , actually I think someone actually gave those "terrorists" what they wanted eventually .

[Steppe Merc]

Sorry. I didn't realize the variety of terrorist groups over there. I shouldn't have assumed that all terrorists were the same... I can't help it, we only here about one kind over here.
But yes, they should get more media coverage. As I just demostrated, it's all to easy to think all terrorists are the same, which is obviously not the case.

[Tribesman]

I can't help it, we only here about one kind over here.
Yes Steppe , that is clearly further evidence of the "Liberal" media bias that some people seem to imagine exists over there .
Terrorists are all Muslims , all mad , all linked to Al-Qaida and all hate Americans well actually that "all mad" bit is true , but then again , how sane are the people that tell you the others are crazy

[Efrem]

We seeing as the terrorists that we are discussing happen to be Muslim, Crazy and hate Americans... Your statement looks a tad retarded.

[Tribesman]

We seeing as the terrorists that we are discussing happen to be Muslim, Crazy and hate Americans... Your statement looks a tad retarded.
Well seeing as the terrorists that you are discussing happen to be killing Australians and Indonesians instead of Americans maybe you could send them an atlas .
And seeing that the bombing that this thread is about was targetted at someone linked to a group that is linked to Al-Qaida you could really enlighten me as to why someone who "hates Americans" is being attacked by someone who "hates Americans" as I am slightly thick and cannot understand the simplicity of the situation as well as you do .

[Proletariat]

Why the hell would every form of terrorism be covered by our media in America? Do we have to bring up the IRA everytime we discuss Al Qaeda?

Some 'proof' against a left-wing bias. Strawman, indeed.