JI 'claims responsibility' for blast From correspondents in Jakarta August 6, 2003
INDONESIAN terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has claimed responsibility for the suspected suicide bombing in Jakarta, according to a Singapore newspaper.
The al-Qaeda-linked JI group, also blamed for last October's Bali bomb attack, has been widely suspected of bombing Jakarta's luxury JW Marriott Hotel yesterday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 148.
That suspicion appeared confirmed today by remarks published by Singapore's Straits Times newspaper.
"This is a message for ... all our enemies that, if they execute any of our Muslim brothers, we will continue this campaign of terror in Indonesia and the region," the paper quoted an unnamed Jemaah Islamiah operative as saying.
The bombing came ahead of tomorrow's sentencing of Bali bombing accused Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who faces the death penalty for his role in the attack which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
