Nine killed and 50 injured in Jakarta attacks

The Indonesian capital of Jakarta was the target of a terrorist bombing campaign on Friday morning as near simultaneous blasts hit two luxury hotels, killing at least 9 people.

At least nine people were killed and 50 injured in the latest hotel attacks reportedly including tourists from Australia and New Zealand. Casualty figures climbed quickly throughout the morning.

The explosions blew out windows and scattered debris and glass across the street.

South Jakarta police Colonel Firman Bundi earlier said that four of the dead were foreigners.

At the Metropolitan Medical Centre, a list was posted with the names of people wounded. An official at the registration office said 11 were foreigners.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We've got no indications that there are any Britons involved. We've got staff still checking and we're seeking access to the scene and going to the hospitals to check."

A Briton staying at the Marriott said the attack would not stop him visiting Indonesia again. Peter Tuomey told the BBC : "I don't think it will put me off.

"I'll just have to be a little bit more cautious but I certainly won't be deterred."

Suspicion for the blasts immediately focused on Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda inspired group active in Indonesia and neighbouring countries.

"These were high explosive bombs," Widodo Adi Sucipto, a government minister, told reporters at the scene of the blasts.

"Some windows of the Ritz-Carlton building have been shattered, mostly on the lower section," said Myra Junor, an office worker who witnessed the scene. Another witness said she saw smoke rising from the Ritz-Carlton and heard an explosion from the nearby Marriott five minutes later.

Witnesses at the scene told Indonesian Metro TV that the injured were seen being taken away in ambulances.

The Manchester United football team was due to check in to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Saturday evening ahead of an exhibition match early next week. They have already played the first game of their four-match tour of Southeast Asia in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

But following the bomb blast, a United spokesman confirmed the team will not by flying to Jakarta tomorrow.

In a statement, the club said: "Following the explosions in Jakarta - one of which was at the hotel the team were due to stay in - and based on advice received, the directors have informed the Indonesian FA that the club cannot fulfil the fixture in Jakarta on the 2009 Asia tour."

The team are now expected to either remain in Malaysia for a few extra days or travel to Seoul for what should have been the third leg of their trip on Friday.

The Australian government immediately issued a warning to its citizens: "We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to Indonesia, including Bali, at this time due to the very high threat of terrorist attack."

Indonesia was the scene of several terror attacks in the early years of this decade. The most deadly was the 2002 Bali bombing in which 202 people were killed. There were also attacks on the Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003, the Australian embassy in 2004 and the again on Bali in 2005.

However the Indonesian authorities made a series of high profile arrests and there have been no major attacks for over three years, leading some analysts to identify the country as a rare success story among Muslim nations confronting a domestic terror threat.

Other experts have cautioned that, although weakened by arrests and internal splits, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) remains a threat, with several militants still at large and determined to carry out further attacks.

A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank, said only on Thursday that JI members or splinter groups could be poised to strike again.

The report claimed that militants released from prison "are gravitating towards hardline groups who continue to advocate al-Qaeda-style attacks against Western targets".

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world and most Indonesians are generally seen as following a moderate interpretation of their religion. The country recently held peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections in which Islamist candidates did not do well.

Shares on the Jakarta stock exchange fell around 1pc after the bombings, but other Asian markets held up on renewed hopes about recovery in the global economy after strong growth figures from China on Thursday. Indonesia's rupiah also fell.