Posted on 04/27/2003 5:32:06 AM PDT by miltonim
Explosion blasts Jakarta airport
A bomb has ripped through a busy passenger terminal at Jakarta's main airport, wounding at least 11 people, in an attack that police said was "meant to terrorise."
One person was seriously injured in the blast that witnesses said occurred between a fast food restaurant and a ticket counter for Indonesia's national carrier, Garuda.
The blast sent shards of broken window glass flying and tossed rows of chairs across the terminal.
Indonesian Chief of Police Da'i Bachtiar confirmed that a bomb caused the explosion and that no-one had claimed responsibility for the attack, the second of its kind in the capital in four days.
Bachtiar said the bomb appeared similar to a small pipe bomb that exploded outside the main UN building during the week in downtown Jakarta. They had found a bag near the blast site which may have been used to hide the bomb.
The airport attack was the latest in a long series of bombings in Jakarta.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and is struggling to deal with a list of terrorist and secessionist movements that mushroomed after the ousting of the dictator Suharto almost five years ago.
The blast comes four days after Abu Bakar Bashir - the alleged spiritual leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah - went on trial for treason.
It also follows the arrest of 18 members of the group, including three wanted in connection with the Bali bombings which killed 202 people, most of who were foreign tourists.
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