In a strange turn of events, there have been rumblings that the culprit this time was not Islamic Crazies but a disgruntled ex-General. I have heard reports that SBY indicated that the perpetrators could have been sponsored by a failed presidential candidate.

 

This is a clear stab at Prabowo. For those of you who have not folloowed his illustrious career, Prabowo is a walking genocide with the blood of many Timorese on his hands; he is also alleged to have been the instigator of the May Riots in order to create a chaotic situation in which Indonesians would beg for the army, i.e. Suharto to step in and restore order. With strong links to the Suharto family, this thesis has been generally accepted, though never proven.

 

Due to his humiliating failure in the elections it is not impossible that his hand could be in this. But this would be ruthless, even for him.

 

However, until further word, I am still inclined to believe it is an Al Qaeda related group; details are sketchy, but anecdotal evidence i heard from friends indicates that the bombs were assembled in the hotel and that the bombers were guests of the hotels. This is reminescent of the Mumbai attacks. Al Qaeda groups seem to favor big (200kg +) car bombs but a change in tactics is not impossible.