Factfile: 2003 Jakarta Marriott blast

17 Jul 2009, 12:25 pm   -   Source: SBS
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The 2003 bombing at the Jakarta Marriott left 12 people dead and injured scores of others

The 2003 bombing at the Jakarta Marriott left 12 people dead and injured scores of others

Today's blast at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, comes almost six years to the day after the hotel was targeted by Islamist extremists.

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Today's blast at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, comes almost six years to the day after the hotel was targeted by Islamist extremists.

A car bomb attack on the same hotel on August 5, 2003, killed 12 people, including several visiting tourists and businessmen, and injuring 150 others.

A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car to the taxi rank in front of the hotel, detonating it just outside the lobby.

The blast tore through the hotel entrance, blowing out walls and shattering windows, severely damaging five floors of the American-owned hotel.

It is thought the venue - which is close to the city's foreign embassies, as well as busy office blocks - was selected as a target because it was seen as a Western symbol.

Al-Qaeda claim

The severed head of the suspected bomber, Asmar Latinsamin, 28, was found on the fifth floor of the wrecked building.

Members of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiah, who identified Latinsamin's remains, said they had recruited him to their cause.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack six days later.

Explosives and methods used in the deadly blast were similar to those used in the Bali bombings, which had happened on 12 October, 2002.

The attack came two days before Bali bomber Amrozi bin Haji Nurhasyim was sentenced to death for his role in the nightclub blasts which killed 182 people - including 152 foreigners - the previous year.

The hotel was closed in the wake of the bombing, but reopened just five weeks later, after extensive repairs.

 

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