Suicide bombing at Jakarta hotel

There is a strong suspicion that the suicide attack on the Jakarta hotel might have been a vengeance bombing. Just when a court was about to deliver its verdict in the trial of Amrozi bin Nurhasyim of Jemaah Islamiyah in connection with last year's Bali bombing, his followers might have thought of administering a shock effect. Jemaah Islamiyah with its supposed links to al-Qaeda is something of a phenomenon in Southeast Asia. The US, Dutch and Australian governments have expressed their willingness to help Indonesia in curbing terrorism in the country. This may be a difficult job, because Indonesia is a huge archipelago with a vast population providing potential hide-outs to extremist elements.

Indonesia's vulnerability to terrorist mayhem seems palpable. As a friendly Muslim country Bangladesh wishes Indonesia well and wants her to tide over the difficulties she is facing now. Just when things started normalising after the Bali disaster, comes the mayhem in downtown Jakarta casting a shadow over her economy. It will be sometime before the dwindling confidence in tourism industry and among foreign investors can be restored to the original levels.

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