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By VOA News 18 July 2009 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses media representatives during a press conference in Mumbai, India, 18 Jul 2009 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged U.S. support in the global fight on terrorism Saturday, as she met with victims of last year's terror attacks in India's commercial city, Mumbai. Clinton also said the United States is not pressuring India to improve relations with Pakistan. She said it is up to the two sides to determine how to go forward with peace talks. The U.S. secretary of state spoke to reporters Saturday in Mumbai, where Indian officials believe terrorists linked to Pakistan killed 166 people during an attack in November. Also Saturday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he is determined to bring the attackers to justice. He said dialogue is the only way to forward with India. Clinton is on her first trip to India as ...

By Brian Padden Jakarta 18 July 2009 Forensic investigators examine the ruins at the site of the bomb blast at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, 18 Jul 2009 Investigations continued Saturday into the Friday bombings at two hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia that left nine people dead and at least 50 injured. Little information about the bombings is being released to the public. On Saturday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the sites where two bombs exploded at the Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels. On Friday the president said the bombings were acts of terrorism but he made no statement during the visits. The governor of Jakarta Fauzi Bowo visited victims injured in the blasts. At one hospital he visited, he said of the 17 that were admitted yesterday, only seven remain in intensive care. The governor also said one of the victims was a Marriott Hotel security guard who was also inju...

Ary Hermawan , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 1:50 PM | Headlines The international community condemned the terror attacks on the lavish JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on Friday, with world leaders calling them *barbaric' and *senseless' acts of violence. "The US condemns such senseless acts of violence. We stand ready to provide assistance if asked by the government of Indonesia," a statement from the US State Department read on Friday, according to CNN. Speaking in Prague, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the attack was a reminder that "the threat of terrorism remains very real," the AP reported." She added that, "we have no higher priority than confronting this threat along with other countries that share our commitment to a more peaceful and prosperous future." Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he felt "sick in the stomach" when he heard news o...

Agnes Winarti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 1:49 PM | Headlines Indonesian fans of English Premier League champions Manchester United expressed mixed feelings of grief and disappointment following the cancellation of the match between the club and an Indonesian team after bomb blasts ripped through two hotels in South Jakarta. "It would had been one of a kind match, how disappointing. However, I am more concerned with the casualties of the bombings," Red Devils enthusiast Edo Adiatra told The Jakarta Post on Friday. The bombs exploded Friday morning at the JW Marriott Hotel and Ritz Carlton Hotel - where the United players were due to stay prior to their match Monday against the Indonesian All-Stars. Edo, who bought a Rp 200,000 (US$20) ticket, said that a staff member of online ticket agency Rajakarcis.com had informed him a refund was likely. "The staff told me to give them my bank account number to reclaim my ...

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 1:48 PM | Headlines As president director of PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk, Timothy David Mackay was known to his colleagues as not only a strong leader but as a nurturing father. Mackay, a New Zealand national, was among those killed in blasts at the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta on Friday morning. Dozens of others were injured in the country's worst terrorist attacks since 2005. He was at the hotel for a regular breakfast meeting with other prominent business figures. Spokesperson for Holcim Indonesia, Budi Primawan, told The Jakarta Post that the company, a domestic subsidiary of the world's second biggest cement maker, was mourning the loss of a leader, a father and a friend. "Mackay was a very good person, very fatherly. Most people at the office feel a huge loss. We lost a father," Budi said. Mackay had been president director of the company since May 2004, p...

Agnes Winarti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 07/17/2009 1:47 PM | Headlines Former Indonesian soccer players who held a Manchester United team to a goalless draw back in 1975 have encouraged their predecessors not to be cowed by Sir Alex Ferguson's star-studded squad. "My advice for the current squad is, don't be afraid," Anjas Asmara, who played as a midfielder, said Thursday during the official unveiling of the Indonesian All-Stars team. "They're human, just like us. Their blood is red, just like ours." The unveiling was held at TVOne, which will broadcast Monday's match live. Anjas was a member of the Indonesian team that held the United team to a goalless draw the first time the English giants came to Indonesia. The Indonesian team comprised goalkeeper Ronny Pasla, defenders Sutan Harhara, Oyong Liza and Suaib Rizal, midfielders Iim Ibrahim, Anjas Asmara, Nobon and Waskito, and strikers Junaedi...

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 10:33 PM | National Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin called Saturday for a thorough investigation into Friday’s bomb attacks on JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, which killed at least eight people and injured more than 50 others. "Security authorities should probe the case thoroughly and find the mastermind behind the bombings,” Din Syamsuddin said as quoted by Antara state news agency. He appealed to all parties to avoid connecting the terror attacks with the recent presidential election. All parties, especially the political elite group, he said, should show their statesmanship and capability to calm the people instead. Din said the police should find no difficulties in uncovering perpetrators of the attacks as a suspected bomber had stayed in JW Marriott Hotel and might have assembled the bombs inside his hotel room. He also said Muhammadiyah Islamic organization believed th...

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...

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 5:40 PM | National The wife of Evert Mokodompit, who remains missing following the bomb attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in South Jakarta on Friday, has delivered a baby without her husband’s presence. Ratna gave birth to her baby boy at a hospital on Jl. Jombang Raya, South Jakarta, on Saturday morning, kompas.com reported. Evert’s father, Victor Mokodompit, said hotel management had notified him that his son, who worked at the US-owned hotel chain, was among the victims of Friday’s bombing. Victor said forensic officers at the Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, had shown him a body with features his son’s had, including a burn injury mark on the leg and a decayed tooth. This was however not enough for Victor to be entirely sure the body was that of his 33 year-old son. The police said eight people were killed in the bomb attacks on JW Marriott and nearby Ritz-Carlton hotels on Friday.

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 07/18/2009 5:35 PM | National Dozens of journalists were left grumbling Saturday, as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came and went from the site of Friday’s bombings without publicly commenting on the incident. The press was not given prior knowledge of the highly anticipated visit. Yudhoyono returned to the presidential car without speaking to the press. State Secretary Hatta Radjasa and presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng did not make statements either. A source said the president and his entourage strolled into the hotel through its basement. Tighter security at the hotel was believed to be used to provide a distraction while the president made his visit. The president was expected to visit the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels hours after Friday morning’s bomb attacks, but security officials advised him to reschedule the trip for safety reasons. (bbs)

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 4:30 PM | National President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's statement that linked Friday's bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels and disputed presidential election results was not an attempt to politicize the incident, one of his party's executives said. "President Yudhoyono is not politicizing the bombing incident at all. The president's statement reflects his anger at acts of terrorism that will severely impact on development in the country," Democratic Party deputy chairman Anas Urbaningrum told Antara state news agency on Saturday. Anas said that since the bombings had caused extensive damage, it was natural for the president to express his anger and pledge to take firm and appropriate measures against the perpetrators including their masterminds. Yudhoyono held a press conference hours after suicide bombers attacked JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in South...

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 4:15 PM | Jakarta Trade Minister Marie Elka Pangestu brushed off Saturday public fear that Friday's hotel bombings would impact trade. "There's no need to worry," she said during a visit to the Kramat Jati wholesale market in East Jakarta. "The state will guarantee the availability of basic commodities." After extending condolences to the families of victims of the bomb blasts, she encouraged traders not to let the terror attacks disrupt their business. "Trading must go on as usual," she said. (dis)

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 3:54 PM | Jakarta City residents seem unperturbed by Friday’s hotel bombings, flocking to the popular Pondok Indah shopping mall in South Jakarta on Saturday. Dozens of expatriates were seen among the throngs of shoppers, state news agency Antara reported. A security guard said the shopping mall was as busy as it had been before bombs went off at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels, 10 kilometers away, on Friday. “There was no decline in the number of guests. More people streamed into the mall yesterday evening I guess,” he said. Security guards were seen watching the entrance points to the mall.

Ni Komang Erviani , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar, Bali | Sat, 07/18/2009 2:50 PM | National Badung regency administration has planned to install 35 CCTVs across Kuta tourist resort in the face of possible terror attacks. Regent Anak Agung Gde Agung said Saturday the initiative came from the National Police in response to twin hotel bombings in Jakarta on Friday, which killed at least eight people and injured over 50 others. “We will immediately install the CCTVs,” Agung said after a meeting at the Denpasar police office. CCTV will also be installed in 23 spots across South Kuta and three across North Kuta, the regent said. “Security measures have been in place so far, but we will step them up following the Jakarta bombings,” he said. Bomb attacks ripped through Kuta in 2002 and 2005, killing over 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Ni Komang Erviani , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar, Bali | Sat, 07/18/2009 2:27 PM | National In the wake of the hotel bombings in Jakarta on Friday, Denpasar police will ask local communities to help secure tourist areas across the Bali capital city and its neighboring regions. “We will mobilize civilian forces in Badung and Denpasar to help us anticipate possible terror attacks on the city,” Denpasar police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. I Gede Alit Widana said after a meeting at the Bali police headquarters on Saturday. Widana said the civilian guards, better known as pecalang , would help the police secure strategic locations such as restaurants, hotels, office buildings and housing complexes. “Badung and Denpasar are considered international cities, due to the presence of tourists from all over the world there,” Widana said. Badung is home to Kuta, the island’s most prominent tourist resort, which came under terror attacks twice in 2002 and 2005.

Ni Komang Erviani , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Sat, 07/18/2009 2:27 PM | National Tourism in Bali has been unaffected by Friday's deadly suicide bombings on two luxury hotels in Jakarta, officials have said. “The hotel occupancy rate remains at between 70 and 80 percent. There is yet to be a negative reaction,” head of the Bali Tourism Agency Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya told The Jakarta Post on Saturday. Wijaya added the agency has yet to see any decline in visitors coming from Australia, even though the country has issued a travel warning following the blast, which are believed to have killed three Australians. Wijaya said that tourism businesses were expecting the government would take firm action to prevent similar attacks in the future. (dre)

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 2:10 PM | Business Suicide bombings at two South Jakarta hotels on Friday will not affect investment in the Batam, Bintan and Karimun free trade zones, an official has said. Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah said Saturday the free trade zones were far away from Jakarta. Investors, he added, know conditions on the island well. Bombs will not scare investors here,” Ismeth told state news agency Antara after inaugurating the Graha Kepri building in Batam. He added, however, that he had asked the police to take precautionary measures to anticipate any possible security threats. “The government is working with the police to maintain security in industrial estates, expatriate housing complexes and other strategic economic locations,” said Ismeth, who heads the FTZ council. Security guards have been put on high alert in the wake of the Jakarta bombings. “I asked them to install CCTV to monitor suspici...

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 2:07 PM | National Local police have been intensifying monitors on traffics at the northern coast Java high (Pantura) following fatal terrorist blast in Jakarta. Adj. Sr. Comr. Ary Laksmana Wijaya, chief of Cirebon City Police, West Java, said that the measures were taken to prevent escaping terrorists from Jakarta through the highway. Ary said that local police are stopping and searching vehicles on the highway. The police are also beefing up security on important places, including seaports and power facilities. (dre)

Khairul Ikhwan - detikNews Medan - the Condition for the Indonesian security after the jw marriot hotel bombing explosion and Ritz Carlton Jakarta, did not yet influence the interest of foreign tourists in visiting to several tourist attractions at Indonesia. The proof is, today one party of tourists from the Netherlands numbering belasan the person, landed in the Polonia Airport, Medan. Roeny, one of the party's members said, they continued to carry out the visit to several locations of the tour in Indonesia like the plan that was scheduled by the side travel. They his plan will head the holiday to the conservation area orangutan in the Lawang Hill, Kabupaten Langkat, around 100 kilometre from Medan, the North Sumatran capital (North Sumatra). "We indeed were heard the bomb breaking out." But we continued to come. We wanted to the Lawang Hill previously, after that just to other places, said Roeny. The similar matter was also said by Iwan (35), a person guide that becam...

Nala Edwin - detikNews Jakarta - casualties and Ritz Carlton of the jw marriot hotel bombing explosion might not worry at a cost of medical treatment in the hospital. Because the government will bear all the medical treatment fees except for them who had the insurance. "Borne by us for them available that bore." If having the insurance that paid please the insurance. If not was that paid, yes the government that paid, said the Health Minister (Menkes) Siti Fadilah Supari ended visited casualties in RS MMC, Street HR Rasuna Said, Jakarta, on Saturday (18/7/2009). It was important, said Menkes, the hospital might not be damaged. Moreover explosion casualties also might not pay. "The main thing is the hospital not might be unfortunate and the patient not might pay," stressed Menkes. That took medicine to Singapore Ms? "Definitely they had the insurance personally," he replied. Menkes appeared to put on the sunglasses with the condition for his eyes was banda...

Samsul Hadi - detikNews Kediri - the Unit of Intelkam City Subregional Police Kediri pacified Cecemin (49), the man from North Sumatra with the Malaysian passport that was expected as the perpetrators of the crime of terrorism. Apart from taking strange measures in a meditating manner in the edge of the Brantas River, from himself also was pacified the sheet contained the secret code. The man who admitted to having children the wife and beralamat in Street Merdeka No.16, Perubrayan the City, Binjai, this was pacified on Saturday (18/7/2009) the morning. After could undergo the inspection for almost 4 hours, at this time he was permitted kembali to the tent that was made the meditating place by him. "This as the form" of "our vigilance towards all the forms" of the "possibility kejahatan terrorism in the Kediri City and surrounding area." At first he really aroused suspicion, because already more 3 months settled there by not having the clear aim, said Kas...