JAKARTA: Investigators worked on Saturday to identify a pair of suicide bombers who attacked two American luxury hotels in Indonesia
’ s capital, and officials confirmed at least four of the dead were foreigners.
Suspicions hardened that the blasts were masterminded by Noordin Top, a Malaysian fugitive who heads a breakaway faction of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah. “ I ’ m 200% sure this was his work, ” said Nasir Abbas, a former Jemaah Islamiyah leader turned police informant who has worked with police on investigations into Indonesia ’ s last three terrorist attacks.
Suicide bombers posing as guests attacked the J W Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on Friday, setting off a pair of blasts that killed nine people and wounded more than 50, authorities said.
A police investigator also said on Saturday that Noordin was the most likely suspect. “ Considering the target, the location and content of the bombs, it was clearly the work of Noordin, ” the investigator said, declining to give his name because he wasn ’ t authorized to speak to the media. He said police had confiscated handwritten notes, a cell phone and a bomb encased in a laptop computer from room 1808 of the Marriott, where the bombers had apparently prepared for the blasts.
The investigator said a hotel receptionist told police that the man who checked into the room gave his name as “ Nurdin. ” He gave a $1,000 cash deposit because he had no credit card, he said. Authorities have not officially named a suspect, but suspicion quickly fell on Jemaah Islamiyah or its allies. The al-Qaida-linked network is blamed for past attacks in Indonesia, including a 2003 bombing at the Marriott in which 12 people died.
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