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The story, as I read it on 9/23/2002. I also included the original Reuters report (which is nearly identical), as well as the URL's for the stories for confirmation purposes. Both are copied from the CNN.com Southeast Asia archives for the week of 9/28/02.
Grenade explodes near U.S. Jakarta depot
Staff and wires
onday, September 23, 2002 Posted: 9:53 AM EDT (1353 GMT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- An abortive grenade attack on a U.S. Embassy property in Jakarta has killed one of the attackers and resulted in the capture of another.
A grenade exploded in a car outside a U.S. Embassy warehouse in the center of Indonesia's
capital before dawn on Monday, police said. The incident came at a time of heightened
security at U.S. embassies worldwide following what Washington called credible threats of
terrorist attacks marking the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks .
"It was a grenade which was to be thrown at a warehouse owned by the U.S. Embassy but
exploded in the car," Indonesian National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar told reporters.
He said there were three men in the car in addition to the man who died. The driver was
captured and two escaped.
An embassy source confirmed the incident took place "near an unoccupied U.S. Embassy
warehouse" and said the embassy was cooperating with police.
"With one arrested we hope we can reveal more information on who is behind this group or this
movement," Bachtiar said, adding that police were continuing to boost security at key
facilities.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has been criticized by some neighbors as dragging its feet in the global battle against terror with some analysts saying it doesn't want to alienate its Islamic majority, most of whom are moderate Muslims.
In June, Indonesian authorities arrested an Arab, Omar al-Faruq, and turned him over to the United States. He has subsequently been linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and plans for attacks on U.S. facilities in the region.
Bin Laden is the United States' prime suspect in the September 11 attacks.
No evidence
onday's explosion occurred around 3.30 a.m. (2030 GMT Sunday) in the plush Menteng
diplomatic district. The U.S. Embassy is in a different area and remained open for business on
onday.
There have been no known previous attacks in Indonesia on U.S. embassy facilities although
there have been reports of attacks that were planned but thwarted, Indonesian security officials said.
Central Jakarta Police chief Edmond Ilyas told reporters the car exploded and then hit an electricity pole in front of the warehouse, Antara said.
Explosions linked to political, religious and gangland feuds are not uncommon in Jakarta but have taken on added significance in recent months with the regional war against terror.
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 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 where the explosion occurred, U.S. spokesman Stanley Harsha said.
The embassy had been closed on September 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 Qaeda terrorist network.
The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.
www.CNN.com/2002/world/asiapcf/southeast/09/23/indo.blast/index.html
Grenade kills one near U.S. depot in Jakarta
onday, September 23, 2002 Posted: 9:50 AM EDT (1350 GMT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) -- A grenade exploded in a car outside a U.S. embassy warehouse in the centre of Indonesia's capital on Monday in a botched attack that killed one of the occupants, police said.
The incident came at a time of heightened security at U.S. embassies worldwide following
what Washington called credible threats of terrorist attacks marking the anniversary of the
September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"It was a grenade which was to be thrown at a warehouse owned by the U.S. embassy but
exploded in the car," Indonesian National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar told reporters.
He said there were three men in the car in addition to the man who died. One was captured
and two escaped.
An embassy source confirmed the incident took place "near an unoccupied U.S. embassy
warehouse" and said the embassy was cooperating with police.
"With one arrested we hope we can reveal more information on who is behind this group or
this movement," Bachtiar said, adding that police were continuing to boost security at key
facilities.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has been criticised by some neighbours as dragging its feet in the global battle against terror with some analysts saying it doesn't want to alienate its Islamic majority, most of whom are moderate Muslims.
In June, Indonesian authorities arrested an Arab, Omar al-Faruq, and turned him over to the
United States. He has subsequently been linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network and
plans for attacks on U.S. facilities in the region.
Bin Laden is the United States' prime suspect in the September 11 attacks.
Open for business
The grenade exploded around 3.30 a.m. in the plush Menteng diplomatic district. The U.S.
embassy is in a different area and remained open for business on Monday.
There have been no known previous attacks in Indonesia on U.S. embassy facilities although
there have been reports of attacks that were planned but thwarted, Indonesian security
officials said.
Central Jakarta Police chief Edmond Ilyas told reporters the car exploded and then hit an
electricity pole in front of the warehouse, Antara said.
Explosions linked to political, religious and gangland feuds are not uncommon in Jakarta but
have taken on added significance in recent months with the regional war against terror.
The U.S. embassy closed amid unspecified security concerns during the anniversary of the
September 11 attacks but reopened a week ago after security was increased.
Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved.
http://www.CNN.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/09/23/indonesia.blast.reut/index.html Submitted on 09/29/2002
Submitted by:
ark Thomas
Reference:
CNN.com, Reuters
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