Police link Jakarta airport blast to Islamist terror trial

Eleven people were injured, one seriously, when a bomb exploded yesterday in a crowded terminal at the main airport in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

Hundreds of passengers fled Sukarno Hatta international airport in panic after the explosion, which went off at 6am in the departures hall, between a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet and a ticket counter for the national carrier, Garuda. The blast blew out windows, spraying glass around the terminal and tossing rows of chairs through the air. One victim was said to be a girl aged 12.

The Indonesian government blamed the bomb attack on separatist rebels from the troubled province of Aceh, while police said it could be connected with the trial in Jakarta of Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

It was the second blast in the city in four days; on Thursday a small pipe bomb went off outside the main United Nations building in downtown Jakarta. No one was injured in that attack. Chief Detective Lieutenant General Erwin Mapasseng said of yesterday's bomb: "This was meant to terrorise people. If people are scared, then these people have achieved their goal. We're asking people not to panic and to remain calm."

Mr Mapasseng said the blast was caused by "a home-made bomb, of a low explosive type". A spokesman for Jakarta police said the crude bomb had a timing device and was left in a backpack under a bench near the restaurant. "This incident occurred because of the lack of security measures at the airport," he said.

Passengers said there was a brief electrical power cut moments earlier. A deafening blast followed, sending smoke billowing through the terminal. "I was having a cigarette in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and then suddenly there was a big explosion," said Supryanto, a taxi driver. "There was smoke everywhere. I saw people running and two people were on the ground passed out."

The theory that Acehnese rebels were responsible was advanced by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Security Minister, although he gave no reasons. The claim was rejected by leaders of the Free Aceh Movement, who have been fighting a civil war for 26 years with government forces.

Mr Bashir went on trial last Wednesday, charged with organising a series of church bombings that killed 19 people and plotting to overthrow Indonesia's secular government.

General Da'I Bachtiar, the National Police Chief, said: "We believe there are three groups that could have done this: the Free Aceh Movement, those linked to the Bali bombings or Jemaah Islamiyah." Police said they were questioning six witnesses but no arrests had been made. Jemaah Islamiyah has been linked with the Bali bombs, which killed 202 people last October.