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Indonesia police investigate Internet claim on Jakarta bombing+
[July 29, 2009]

Indonesia police investigate Internet claim on Jakarta bombing+


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) JAKARTA, July 29_(Kyodo) _ Indonesian police are investigating an Internet posting allegedly by one of the most wanted terrorist suspects in Southeast Asia claiming responsibility for the July 17 bombings of two luxury hotels in Jakarta, an officer said Wednesday.



The suicide bombings in the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels killed nine people, including the two suicide bombers, and injured 53 others.

"We need to investigate the claim on the Internet," National Police Spokesman Sulistyo Ishak told reporters.


Two statements posted on a blog dated Sunday and allegedly sent by Noordin Mohamad Top, a Malaysian and Southeast Asia's most-wanted militant, said the attacks were accomplished with "God's blessing." Written in Arabic and Indonesian, the statements cited several verses of the Koran to justify the attacks.

The statement on the Marriott bombing refers to a weekly breakfast meeting of senior Jakarta-based executives, mostly foreigners, who it said are parts of "the American economy" with an interest in the fight against Islam and Muslims.

The statement said the attack on the Ritz-Carlton was a message to Muslims to be loyal to their religion by expressing hostility to the arrival of players of the English soccer club Manchester United to the hotel, saying they were Christians.

"It is inappropriate for Muslims to express loyalty and respect to the enemies of Allah," the statement said.

The statement said the attacks would "appease the hearts of Muslims who have suffered and been oppressed throughout the world." The attacks, it said, are expected "to motivate Muslims to revive their obligations to carry out jihad (holy war) as the only way" to uphold justice.

Some terrorism and information technology experts have expressed doubt about the authenticity of the claims. As in previous bombing attacks, no-one has made claims of responsibility that authorities believe are credible.

Rudy Alamsyah, a forensic expert on information technology, told the Jakarta-based television network Metro TV that if Top made such a posting, he could be easily detected by the police.

In the Internet posting, the man who claims to be Top calls himself "Tandzim al-Qo'idah Indonesia." According to the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group, Top describes himself as the "al-Qaida for the Malay Archipelago." Since last week, police have detained Top's wife Ariani Rahma and his mother-in-law.

Rahma, who is also known as Arina, claimed she does not know that her husband is a top fugitive. The whereabouts of Top and his father-in-law are still unknown.

(c) 2009 Kyodo News International, Inc.

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