Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 6:00 PM
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9adc94f4-74c3-11de-8ad5-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1 Financial Times FT.com Asia-Pacific Yudhoyono criticised in crisis By John Aglionby in Jakarta Published: July 20 2009 03:00 | Last updated: July 20 2009 03:00 Indonesian police are confident that Jemaah Islamiah, the regional Islamist terrorist group, carried out last week's double suicide bombing in two Jakarta luxury hotels as concern mounted at President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's management of the crisis. Nanan Soekarna, police inspector-general, said yesterday that investigators were "almost certain" militants under Noordin Top, a former JI military chief who is believed to run a terrorist cell, perpetrated Friday's bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton. "The clues are still being pieced together but they're pointing in that direction," he said. "Once we've identified the bombers' bodies, we'll be able to reach a clear conclusion." Referring to the Bali attacks in 2002 and 2005, and bomb equipment found in recent police raids in central Java, he added: "The method, the equipment used is the same as both bombs in Bali and the one found in Cilacap." JI was al-Qaeda's main south-east Asian affiliate. But it has become fractured by leadership divisions and the arrest of hundreds of militants. Three Australians and a New Zealander who were at a networking breakfast at the Marriott hotel were among the seven fatalities apart from the bombers. Speculation is mounting that the Marriott suicide bomber was Nur Hasbi, who was in the same school class as Asmar Latin Sani, the suicide bomber in a previous attack on the Jakarta Marriott in 2003. Sidney Jones, a JI expert with the International Crisis Group think-tank, said: "If it's Nur Hasbi, then that would clinch that this is the Noordin network." Mr Noordin is believed to have been a central JI figure for years. The school Mr Nur Hasbi and Mr Asmar attended was the Ngruki Islamic boarding school run by Abu Bakar Bashir, JI's co-founder and former spiritual leader. Politicians and diplomats say Mr Yudhoyono's judgment must be questioned after the president on Friday made an emotional speech that implicated his opponents in the attacks and warned of a campaign to destabilise the nation. Fuad Bawazier, aide to Jusuf Kalla in the vicepresident's attempt to win this month's presidential election, said Mr Yudhoyono should not have made the comments. "It didn't create calm. Rather, it was accusatory speculation all over the place," he said after visiting a hospital where some of the 53 injured in the bombings are being treated. Some diplomats said the speech revealed a worrying side to Mr Yudhoyono. "We always knew he was thin-skinned but this shows he's highly emotional and maybe unreliable in a crisis," one said. "If I were a foreign investor, I'd be more worried about the speech than the bombings." Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. Privacy policy | Terms © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009. -----Inline Attachment Follows----- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.392 / Virus Database: 270.13.21/2252 - Release Date: 07/21/09 05:58:00 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
