News Articles

Deadly blasts strike hotels in Indonesian capital

2009-07-16 23:57:14

Our Comments

This really is a tragic and horrific act of terrorism. Regardless of who is behind it, these acts cannot be justified. What can be achieved by attacking high-end hotels and civilians?

For those who attack religion in general because of this, I do not agree. The problem is people, not religion, man found ways to kill each other long before organized religion. If there was no religion, man would find other ways and excuses to harm one another.

To the anti-Islamists, I had nothing to do with this horrible event, so it is not right for anti-Islamists to imply that all Muslims support this kind of activity or would be prone to it.

I also shouldn't feel obligated to apologize and condemn, as much as I want to (but not because of the anti-Islamists, but because this is a horrible thing that happened). Don't use the news as an excuse to propagate your anti-Islamic views.

For those who must know, these actions are forbidden according to the Qur'an, violence can only be used in self-defense, and obviously planting bombs in hotels is not self-defense.

What I would like to know is that people of all faiths (or non-faith) condemn these kinds of actions, but do not use this is an excuse to spread hate or propaganda against Muslims who had no role in this and do not agree with these kinds of actions.

Peace

Full Article:

Deadly blasts strike hotels in Indonesian capital

At least 9 killed, 50 injured may include Canadian

Last Updated: Friday, July 17, 2009 | 2:06 AM ET Comments53 Recommend27

CBC News

Police officers inspect the damage at the Marriott hotel after a bomb went off Friday in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Dita Alangkara/Associated Press)Powerful bomb blasts rocked two upscale hotels in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Friday morning, killing at least nine people and wounding 50, a government official said.

The Jakarta Post reported that wounded foreigners included one Canadian.

A New Zealander was among the dead, while 13 other foreigners were injured in nearly simultaneous blasts at the Ritz-Carlton and the nearby Marriott, said Indonesian Security Minister Widodo Adi Sucipto.

A policeman walks in front of the damaged Ritz-Carlton hotel on Friday after an explosion in Jakarta. (Dadang Tri/Reuters)He told reporters the blasts were caused by "high explosives," but did not elaborate.

The Jakarta Post reported that a man identified as a Canadian suffered serious burns to 30 per cent of his body, but that report could not be confirmed.

Officials at the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa could not be reached for comment and calls to the Canadian Embassy in Jakarta were referred to Ottawa.

Television footage showed dozens of police and security guards stepping over broken glass as they cordoned off the Ritz, which had its facade destroyed in the attack.

A witness said the explosions happened within five minutes of each other around 7:30 a.m. local time.

"There were bodies on the ground, one of them had no stomach," said a man who lives near the hotels and arrived at the Marriott before emergency services.

"It was terrible."

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the blasts.

The country held an election last week, in which incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was declared the winner. Despite allegations of electoral fraud by Yudhoyono's opponents, independent observers declared the election largely free and fair.

Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant Islamic organization, has been blamed for a series of attacks between 2002 and 2005 that killed more than 240 people, most of them foreign tourists on the island of Bali.

The group was blamed for a previous blast at the Jakarta Marriott in 2003 that killed 12 people.

With files from The Associated Press & The Canadian Press

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/16/indonesia-hotel-explosion071609.html#socialcomments

Tags:

deadly, blasts, hotels, indonesian, updated, et, comments, cbc, inspect, marriott, jakarta, indonesia, dita, alangkara, associated, rocked, upscale, wounding, reported, foreigners, included, zealander, simultaneous, ritz, carlton, nearby, widodo, adi, sucipto, policeman, dadang, tri, reuters, reporters, quot, explosives, elaborate, identified, cent, officials, ottawa, embassy, referred, footage, dozens, stepping, cordoned, facade, explosions, incumbent, susilo, bambang, yudhoyono, declared, allegations, electoral, opponents, observers, largely, jemaah, islamiyah, militant, islamic, blamed, attacks, tourists, bali, previous, http, www, ca, html, socialcomments,