• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Q+A: What will be the impact of Indonesia's hotel bomb attacks

JAKARTA
Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:00am EDT

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Bomb blasts ripped through the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta's business district on Friday, killing nine people and wounding dozens in attacks that could dent investor confidence in Indonesia.

A car bomb also blew up along a toll road in North Jakarta, police said without giving further details. Indonesia's Metro TV said two people had been killed. An unexploded bomb was also later found at the Marriott, police said.

The apparently coordinated bombings are the first in several years and follow a period in which the government had made progress in tackling security threats from militant Islamic groups, bringing a sense of political stability to Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Some analysts have already cast suspicion on remnants of the Jemaah Islamiah group, blamed for previous attacks including a car bombing outside the Marriott in 2003 as well as bombings on the resort island of Bali the previous year that killed 202 people.

Here are some questions and answers on security in Indonesia:



More from Reuters

A glass of water taken from a residential well after the start of natural gas drilling in Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 7, 2009. Dimock is one of hundreds of sites in Pennsylvania where energy companies are now racing to tap the massive Marcellus Shale natural gas formation. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer

Not in my watershed: NYC

The biggest U.S. city wants the state to ban one of the most promising sources of U.S. energy -- and also one of the most contentious.  Full Article 

Cannabis sativa plant is seen in Buenos Aires, August 21, 2009. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian
Bernd Debusmann:

Obama, drugs, common sense

American attitudes towards drug prohibition – and above all, punitive laws on marijuana – are changing too fast for policymakers and legislators to ignore.  Commentary