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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bombing in Jakarta Kills 10
Aired August 05, 2003 - 06:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Target: an American-owned hotel chain. Suicide bombers strike a Marriott in Indonesia. Ten are dead, many more wounded.
Let's go live to the phone lines now and CNN Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa.
Maria -- more information is coming in as to how this happened. We now understand a Toyota car actually drove into the lobby. Is that how it happened?
MARIA RESSA, CNN JAKARTA BUREAU CHIEF: Near the area. It looks like there was a taxi stand right in front. Again, there are different reports coming out. There are different forensics teams actually at the site.
But what we've been told is that it looks like it was a Silver Bird, which is a popular taxi chain here in Indonesia. There was a taxi stand right outside. Right on front of that taxi stand is the lobby. Next to it are the two restaurants, which were packed with a lunchtime crowd.
We've been told that the hotel was about 77 percent full. It's a 33-story, Jakarta's newest hotel and a trendy place, a popular place for expatriates and diplomats to be at.
COSTELLO: And knowing that, the hotel had very tight security, didn't it?
RESSA: It did, and that's part of the reason a lot of -- next door to it, for example, are several embassies, Western embassies, and the hotel itself has been used -- the last two Fourth of July celebrations of the U.S. Embassy has been at the J.W. Marriott. Most of the guests of the U.S. Embassy are also (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there.
So, it's expected to have not only the newest facilities, but also the best security in Jakarta. However, having said that, perhaps that may be the reason why it became a prime target for this attack, partly because it is well-known that there will be many foreigners there -- the timing of the attack, at 12:30 in the afternoon, a packed lunchtime crowd.
COSTELLO: Let's talk more about this Jemmah Islamiyah, this terrorist group linked to al Qaeda. Has any group claimed responsibility?
RESSA: Not yet, not at this point in time. And the police themselves -- the Jakarta governor at one point said that he believed it was a suicide bomber. Again, even that is very rare in Southeast Asia. In fact, the very first time that we've had that happen in Southeast Asia was the Bali bombing on October 12, 2002. One of the three bombs that made it that night was by a suicide bomber.
The car bomb is a new -- it's not a new thing for Jakarta. Again, we've had bomb explosions at the Jakarta stock exchange, where a bomb was hidden inside a car at the basement. Again, the police thought this may have been the same modus operandi. But what is very clear just from looking at the hotel from outside is the blast -- the scope of this blast is far larger than anything we've seen here in Jakarta at this time.
COSTELLO: Yes, and this al Qaeda group, there is a man on trial right now, and they're going to hand down a final verdict in the case two days from now. Many suspect that that might have something to do with this attack on this Marriott hotel.
RESSA: Well, there have been two things. The Indonesian government has increasingly -- since the Bali blast has increasingly cracked down on Jemmah Islamiyah, which is basically al Qaeda's arm in Southeast Asia. And the man that you say, he was going to receive his verdict on Thursday, Amrosi (ph). He's an Indonesian man, who was the first man arrested in connection with the Bali bombings. There have been nearly 40 people arrested since then.
People do expect a guilty verdict to come out, partly because of the evidence against him, and also because he himself has confessed that he not only bought the explosives for the Bali blast but also bought the van in which the explosives were packed and driven to the bar, where it exploded.
So, they do think -- we know that the Indonesian government was afraid that there would be future attacks. They did warn the public less than a month ago that Jemmah Islamiyah was capable of more attacks on the scale of Bali or larger.
COSTELLO: Maria Ressa reporting live out of Jakarta. We're going to let you go so you can gather more information.
But, again, we know 10 dead, and police in Indonesia suspect one of the dead is an American, and there have been more than 75 injured. We'll get back to Maria as she gets new information for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired August 5, 2003 - 06:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Target: an American-owned hotel chain. Suicide bombers strike a Marriott in Indonesia. Ten are dead, many more wounded.
Let's go live to the phone lines now and CNN Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa.
Maria -- more information is coming in as to how this happened. We now understand a Toyota car actually drove into the lobby. Is that how it happened?
MARIA RESSA, CNN JAKARTA BUREAU CHIEF: Near the area. It looks like there was a taxi stand right in front. Again, there are different reports coming out. There are different forensics teams actually at the site.
But what we've been told is that it looks like it was a Silver Bird, which is a popular taxi chain here in Indonesia. There was a taxi stand right outside. Right on front of that taxi stand is the lobby. Next to it are the two restaurants, which were packed with a lunchtime crowd.
We've been told that the hotel was about 77 percent full. It's a 33-story, Jakarta's newest hotel and a trendy place, a popular place for expatriates and diplomats to be at.
COSTELLO: And knowing that, the hotel had very tight security, didn't it?
RESSA: It did, and that's part of the reason a lot of -- next door to it, for example, are several embassies, Western embassies, and the hotel itself has been used -- the last two Fourth of July celebrations of the U.S. Embassy has been at the J.W. Marriott. Most of the guests of the U.S. Embassy are also (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there.
So, it's expected to have not only the newest facilities, but also the best security in Jakarta. However, having said that, perhaps that may be the reason why it became a prime target for this attack, partly because it is well-known that there will be many foreigners there -- the timing of the attack, at 12:30 in the afternoon, a packed lunchtime crowd.
COSTELLO: Let's talk more about this Jemmah Islamiyah, this terrorist group linked to al Qaeda. Has any group claimed responsibility?
RESSA: Not yet, not at this point in time. And the police themselves -- the Jakarta governor at one point said that he believed it was a suicide bomber. Again, even that is very rare in Southeast Asia. In fact, the very first time that we've had that happen in Southeast Asia was the Bali bombing on October 12, 2002. One of the three bombs that made it that night was by a suicide bomber.
The car bomb is a new -- it's not a new thing for Jakarta. Again, we've had bomb explosions at the Jakarta stock exchange, where a bomb was hidden inside a car at the basement. Again, the police thought this may have been the same modus operandi. But what is very clear just from looking at the hotel from outside is the blast -- the scope of this blast is far larger than anything we've seen here in Jakarta at this time.
COSTELLO: Yes, and this al Qaeda group, there is a man on trial right now, and they're going to hand down a final verdict in the case two days from now. Many suspect that that might have something to do with this attack on this Marriott hotel.
RESSA: Well, there have been two things. The Indonesian government has increasingly -- since the Bali blast has increasingly cracked down on Jemmah Islamiyah, which is basically al Qaeda's arm in Southeast Asia. And the man that you say, he was going to receive his verdict on Thursday, Amrosi (ph). He's an Indonesian man, who was the first man arrested in connection with the Bali bombings. There have been nearly 40 people arrested since then.
People do expect a guilty verdict to come out, partly because of the evidence against him, and also because he himself has confessed that he not only bought the explosives for the Bali blast but also bought the van in which the explosives were packed and driven to the bar, where it exploded.
So, they do think -- we know that the Indonesian government was afraid that there would be future attacks. They did warn the public less than a month ago that Jemmah Islamiyah was capable of more attacks on the scale of Bali or larger.
COSTELLO: Maria Ressa reporting live out of Jakarta. We're going to let you go so you can gather more information.
But, again, we know 10 dead, and police in Indonesia suspect one of the dead is an American, and there have been more than 75 injured. We'll get back to Maria as she gets new information for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
