Al Qaeda Linked Jemaah Islamiyah Group Suspected of Indonesian Bomb Murders

Reports by Associated Press and Stratfor say there are “indications” suicide attackers carried out coordinated twin bombings detonated minutes apart shortly after dawn Friday, July 17in the basement of J.W. Marriott and in a restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton hotels in downtown Jakarta killiog nine and wounded 50. The bombers are reported to have been hotel guest. It is unclear at this writing if the bombs were planted or suicide vest were used.

A friend has been serving as an adviser to Indonesian security.

At lest 14 foreigners were among the wounded, including nationals from the United States, Australia, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand  and South Korea.

It has been nearly four years since a major terrorist attack in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

The Marriott, was also attacked in 2003 in a bombing blamed on an al Qaeda connected Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, was hit first, followed by the blast at the Ritz two minutes later. Twenty people were killed in those attacks.

The latest attacks came just two weeks after presidential vote expected to re-elect incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who has been credited with stabilizing a nation previously wracked by militancy.

Local media reported that two people were killed in another explosion in a car north Jakarta later Friday. Officials said that bombing did not appear to be related.

The security minister and police said a New Zealander was among those killed, and that thirteen other foreigners were among the wounded, including nationals from Australia, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and the U.S.

Earlier, South Jakarta police Col. Firman Bundi said that four foreigners were killed, but gave no details.

The attacks came ahead of a high-profile trip by the Manchester United football team to Indonesia. The team was scheduled to stay at the Ritz on Saturday and Sunday nights for a friendly match against the Indonesian All Stars, the Indonesian Football association said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna said the likely perpetrators were from the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.

There has been a massive crackdown in recent years by anti-terror officials in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million, but the group is reported to  ”still be a very capable terrorist organization.” Police have detained most of the key figures in the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah, and rounded up hundreds of other sympathizers and lesser figures.

The radical Muslim ideologues sympathetic to JI are said to still be able to preach extremism in Indonesia, and help provide an infrastructure that could support terrorism.