Hotel security supervisor talked to suspected bomber

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 5:43 PM | National

Security supervisor of the JW Marriott Hotel, Didik Achmad Taufik, 39, said he talked to one of the suspected bombers moments before Friday’s blast.

Didik, who was wounded in the bombing, told state news agency Antara at the Jakarta Hospital on Saturday that he exchanged a few words with a man carrying a backpack on his chest and lugging a suitcase toward the hotel's lounge shortly before the explosion.

He said at about 7.30 a.m. on Friday morning he talked to the man, wearing a black windbreaker and baseball cap, as he walk awkwardly into the hotel's restaurant.

"What can I do for you?" Didik asked the man who said he wanted to meet his boss.
Didik further asked: "Who is your boss and where is he?"

Without giving his boss's name, the man said: "I want to deliver what my boss ordered."

Didik said he did not push further and asked one of the security guards, Dadang, to accompany the man to meet his “boss”.

Didik found out later the man had been staying in the hotel since June 15. He added the suspected bomber might have brought materials for the bomb into the hotel little by little, making it difficult for security officers to detect.