Indonesian church bomber linked to radical Islamic group
ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH
A handout picture released by the Indonesian police on September 25, 2011 shows a dead suspected suicide bomber after an explosion in front of a church in Solo, Central Java.
Credit: Reuters/Indonesian National Police/Handout/Files
National Police Spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam said Hayat, also known as Pino Damayanto, had links to Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), a group founded by Abu Bakar Bashir, an elderly cleric sentenced to 15 years in prison in June and regarded as a terrorist ideologue.
The blasts threaten Indonesia's hard-won image for success in containing religion-related violence after a crackdown on Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah, which was behind deadly assaults including the killing of 202 people, mainly foreigners, in suicide attacks on Bali in 2002.
Despite the arrest and killings of high-profile militants in recent years, the world's most populous Muslim country is facing low-level attacks that have raised questions over religious intolerance in a country known for its moderate Islam.
The unrest coincides with renewed violence between Muslims and Christians on the island of Ambon and attacks against the minority Ahmadi, a sect that considers itself Islamic but is regarded as heretic by mainstream Muslims.
"Radicalism and intolerance will always be here but the scale is shifting in the form of small groups acting independently rather than a bigger network," said Noor Huda Ismail, an expert on Indonesian terrorist groups and director of the Institute for International Peace Building.
However, "there's no room for complacency", he added.
Police said another four suspects were still at large and several "homemade bombs" were identified as missing.
"AMATEURISH"
A court in June jailed frail cleric Bashir, the spiritual leader behind the 2002 Bali bombings, for planning attacks against foreigners and plans to assassinate moderate Muslims, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The sentence was effectively life in jail for the 73-year-old Bashir.
Bashir's group, JAT, remains active. Bashir's son and JAT spokesman, Abdul Rohim, told Reuters Sunday's suicide bomber was not a member of JAT.
Sidney Jones, a security analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the new attacks represented a break from the past in two important ways: they targeted local Indonesians and lacked the sophistication of Jemaah Islamiah.
"One of the interesting things that has happened in Indonesia over the last two years is that the targets have been increasingly local and the people who have undertaken attacks have increasingly been very amateurish," she said.
Yudhoyono said the attacks were unacceptable, urging passage of a controversial intelligence bill that would allow the government to eavesdrop on telephone conversations without court approval and lengthen detention of suspects, drawing criticism among rights groups who fear abuse of power.
In a sign of the government's struggle to contain militancy, authorities have blocked 300 Internet sites this year suspected of promoting terrorism and hatred, a state news agency quoted a government minister as saying on Tuesday.
The last major attacks in Indonesia took place in July 2009 with near simultaneous suicide bombings at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta. Seven people and the two bombers were killed.
(Reporting by Karima Anjani; Editing by Jason Szep and Sugita Katyal)