2003 Marriott Hotel bombing
A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Jakarta hotel on 5 August 2003, killing 12 people and injuring 150. Those killed included 11 Indonesians and one Dutch national. The hotel was viewed as a Western symbol, and had been used by the United States embassy for various events.[1] The hotel was closed for five weeks and reopened to the public on 8 September 2003.
This article is about the 2003 bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia. For the 2008 bombing in Pakistan, see Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing. For the 2009 attacks, see 2009 Jakarta bombings.2003 JW Marriott Hotel bombing
Prelude[edit]
Two weeks prior to the bombing, there was a tip call to senior Indonesian police officers from a militant captured during a raid in Semarang that two carloads of bomb-making materials were heading to the capital, Jakarta. During the raid, the police also discovered some drawings outlining specific areas in the city for possible attacks.[2]
The explosion[edit]
A Toyota Kijang, bought on 20 July 2003, from an Indonesian businessman for 25.75 million rupiah was loaded with explosives and driven through the taxi stand in front of the JW Marriott Jakarta.[3] The vehicle stopped briefly in front of the lobby and CCTV cameras show a security guard approaching the vehicle, briefly speaking to the driver. The security guard then turns and a detonation can be seen. It is still not clear if the explosion was accidental, set off by remote detonation or a timer exploding prematurely. If the vehicle had kept a course heading straight for the lobby the damage would undoubtedly have been more severe. The blast radius was visible along with the shattered windows of nearby buildings. According to Indonesian police, one of the ingredients in the car bomb contained the same chemical used in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings.[4][5] The bombs in both cases were made of the same mixture of explosives, mobile phones were used as detonators, and the attackers had tried to scrape off the identification numbers from the vehicle bombs.[3]
The severed head of Asmar Latin Sani, aged 28, and from West Sumatra, was later found on the fifth floor of the building,[6] The head was identified by two jailed members of the Jemaah Islamiyah group who said they had recruited him.[4][7]
Investigators uncovered the charred remains of a battery used to power the bomb and said it was similar to the ones used in a series of bombings against Christian churches on Christmas Eve 2000, in which 19 people were killed.[3]
The attack came two days before a verdict in the trial of the Bali nightclub bombers. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack and the perpetrators are known to have trained in al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.[8]
Effects[edit]
The Jakarta Stock Exchange market index tumbled 3.1 per cent after the attack and its currency, the rupiah, lost as much as 2 per cent of its value against the US dollar.[24]
Australia issued a warning for its citizens to avoid all international hotels in Jakarta after intelligence found the capital could be under the threat of further attacks.[1]