ASSOCIATED PRESS, Monday September 23, 2002 6:24 AM ET
Police: Indonesia Blast Kills One
By LELY T. DJUHARI, Associated Press Writer
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A hand grenade exploded Monday in a car just yards
from a house owned by the U.S. Embassy, killing one passenger, police said. The
embassy denied police reports that the house was the target.
Members of the police forensic lab team and other investigators examine the site of
an explosion near a house belonging to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia,
Monday, Sept. 23, 2002. The small explosion from a car, which occurred in the early
hours of Monday morning, killed one person, police said. (AP Photo/Charles
Dharapak)
Three other people were in the car when the grenade went off in a residential
neighborhood of central Jakarta, police and witnesses said. Police said the driver was
detained but two passengers got away.
National police chief Da'i Bachtiar initially told reporters the men were on their way to
attack the embassy-owned building. But at a news conference later he called the
explosion near the U.S.-owned residence "coincidental."
When asked whether it was an attack against U.S. interests, Bachtiar replied: "We
don't know. We are investigating."
He said the driver led police to the city of Bogor, 35 miles south of Jakarta, where
more weapons and explosives were found during raids on two homes.
The cache included TNT and 100 bullets, Bachtiar said. In Bogor, police also
searched the home of Ahmad Azis, the man killed in the blast, and picked up his wife
for questioning, said city police chief Col. Edmon Ilyas.
An embassy statement released Monday said: "The U.S. Embassy is in direct
contact with the Indonesian national police and at this time there are no indications
that U.S. Embassy properties or U.S. interests were targeted."
The embassy, which remained open Monday, confirmed that it owned several
properties in the area.
The embassy had been closed on Sept. 10 for six days due to what U.S.
Ambassador Ralph Boyce called a "credible and specific threat" that he suggested
was linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network.
Though now reopened, the embassy has cautioned U.S. citizens to stay away. A
concrete barricade erected last week runs the length of the complex as a deterrent
against bomb attacks.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country. The government has been
cooperating with the U.S.-led war on terror and has come under fire from some radical
groups that accuse it of being too close to Washington.
The explosion occurred about 3:30 a.m. in a residential area just yards from the
vacant house, said city police chief Col. Edmon Ilyas.
The damage was confined to the car, which swerved and hit a concrete curb,
witnesses said.
Residents chased the three survivors, capturing the slightly injured driver and holding
him until police arrived. Two other suspects remained at large, Ilyas said.
Police suspect Azis, a resident of Bogor, was handling the grenade went it went off in
the front seat. They said the driver, identified solely as Yusuf, carried an identity card
issued in Ambon, the capital of Maluku Province.
Maluku, about 1,600 miles east of Jakarta, has been wracked by three years of
fighting between Christians and Muslims that has killed around 9,000 people.
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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