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2004 Jakarta embassy bombing
The Australian flag continues to fly in front of a neighbouring building devastated by the bomb.
Location	Jakarta, Indonesia
Target(s)	the Australian embassy
Date	September 9, 2004 10:30AM (UTC +7)
Attack Type	car bombing
Fatalities	9
Injuries	>150
Perpetrator(s)	Islamist terrorists, Jemaah Islamiyah

Terrorism in Indonesia
Jakarta Stock Exchange bombing – Christmas Eve 2000 bombings – 2002 Bali bombings – 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing – 2004 Jakarta Embassy bombing – 2005 Bali bombings

The Jakarta embassy bombing took place on September 9, 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

A one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta, at about 10:30 local time (03:30 UTC), killing 9 people including the suicide bomber, and wounding over 150 others. It gutted the Greek Embassy on the 12th floor of an adjacent building. where three diplomats there were slightly wounded.^[1] Damage to the nearby Chinese embassy was also reported. Numerous office buildings surrounding the embassy were also damaged by the blast, which shattered windows in buildings 500 yards away, injuring many workers inside, mostly by broken glass.

A dispute ensued as to how many civilians lost their lives after the explosion: local health authorities in Jakarta reported 9 deaths, compared to 11 deaths reported by Australian officials. Nonetheless, all Australians working at the embassy were reported alive. Among the victims killed were embassy security guard Anton Sujarwo, 23, and four Indonesian policemen on duty at the embassy. The rest were civilians, including the embassy gardener, Suryadi, 34, two embassy workers, a visa applicant, and a pedestrian.

1 Reactions
2 Investigation
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Reactions

Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed his "utter dismay at this event" and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, "this was aimed at the Australian Embassy, there's no question of that" and that the investigators' "suspicions turn to Jemaah Islamiah". It is unclear whether the incident was intended to influence either of the two upcoming regional elections: the final stage of the Indonesian presidential elections scheduled for 20 September, or the Australian elections scheduled for 9 October.^[2]

The then Australian Opposition Leader Mark Latham said "The terrorists responsible for this attack are evil and barbaric and must be dealt with as harshly as possible and as quickly as possible" and committed the Labor Party's "full support to all efforts by the Australian and Indonesian governments to ensure that happens".

A grainy photograph of a white delivery van suspected of carrying the bomb and the attackers was released by Indonesian police. Minister Downer claimed that a mobile phone text message was sent to Indonesian authorities about 45 minutes before the bomb detonated, warning of attacks unless the leader of Jemaah Islamiah Abu Bakar Bashir was released, and said that the warning was not delivered to the Australian Federal Police until several hours after the bombing. Indonesian police denied receiving such a message. (Newsday)

This was the third recent major attack involving Australians or Australian targets in Indonesia, after the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing, and the 2003 J.W. Marriott Hotel bombing. The executors of that attack, Jemaah Islamiyah, were also head suspects for this bombing.

[edit] Investigation

Azahari Husin (Source: Royal Malaysia Police)

Noordin Mohammad Top (FBI enhanced photo)

The attack has been claimed by Jemaah Islamiah, an organisation which has also claimed responsibility for multiple attacks including the 2002 Bali bombing and alleged to have links with Al-Qaeda, ^[3] An Islamist web site, www.islamic-minbar.com, posted a statement by Jemaah Islamiah saying:

"We decided to settle accounts with Australia, one of the worst enemies of God and Islam, ... and a mujahideen brother succeeded in carrying out a martyr operation with a car bomb against the Australian embassy in Jakarta"

"It is the first of a series of attacks. ... We advise Australians in Indonesia to leave this country or else we will transform it into a cemetery for them, The lines of booby-trapped cars will have no end"

^[4]

Police announced that Azahari Husin, and Noordin Mohammed Top were suspected of being behind the bombing; Azahari was killed in a raid in November 2005, while as of 2005 Noordin remains on the run.

On October 1, 2004, authorities identified the suicide bomber as Heri Golun, based on DNA tests done at the scene.^[5]

On May 5 2006 the International Crisis Group released its "Asia Report No 114" entitled Terrorism in Indonesia. It described the events leading up the attack;

On 5 August, at Noordin’s instructions, Rois set off to retrieve Heri Golun, who had been selected as the suicide bomber, and buy the Daihatsu vehicle that was used in the bombing. He enlisted the help of Irun Hidayat in both tasks. From then until 17 August, frantic activity moving the principals, purchasing additional materials for the bombs and raising funds – alternated with lulls, when the operatives went to Internet cafes to pass the time. On 17 August, Noordin asked Rois to check on Heri Golun’s state of mind. When Heri said he was ready, he moved into the house where Noordin and Azhari were and slept in their room at night, so they could give him additional religious counselling. On 23 August, Rois started to teach Heri Golun how to drive, and on 9 September, the new driver blew himself in front of the Australian embassy.

In March 2005, Irun Hidayat was charged with helping to plan, and motivate other people to carry out the act ^[6]. On July 21, he was convicted of being an accessory by providing a house to Azahari and Noordin, but not to having planned the September attack, and was sentenced to three years in jail. Hidayat was the first man to stand trial related to the embassy bombing. ^[6].According to the ICG report:

Irun Hidayat was also a central figure. Inducted into Darul Islam by Kang Jaja in 1987 at fifteen, he was in the same class at Serang Islamic High School as Imam Samudra and Heri Hafidin, one of the three owners of CV Sajira. He became a close friend of Rois, and the two went to Ambon in January 2002. Irun became a martial arts instructor in the military training sessions run by Kang Jaja and Rois. Since 1999, Irun also had been the local head of the religious council of the Indonesian Muslim Workers Union (Perserikatan Pekerja Muslim Indonesia, PPIM). He was to call on a fellow unionist to put up the bombers the night before they struck the embassy

Agus Ahmad was also captured and put on trial. He helped one of the core bombers, Iwan Darmawan alias "Rios", scout for safe houses and transported around 70kg of high-explosive TNT. Arrests in July 2004 near the central Java city of Solo forced Azahari Husin and Noordin Top to shift their base of operations. Agus used a Daihatsu van to move the explosives to his own house in Cianjur, near Jakarta. On November 5, four men were arrested in Bogor, West Java: Sogir, Iwan Darmawan, Hasan and Apuy.[1] ^[5]