Jakarta blast bomber 'identified'

Police have released a sketch of the suspected bomber

Indonesian police say they believe they have identified the bomber responsible for an explosion in a luxury hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday which left at least 10 people dead and scores injured.

Police spokesman Brigadier Gorris Mere said that a security camera had recorded the suspect, named only as Asmal, stopping in a vehicle in the US-owned Marriott hotel driveway moments before the explosion.

He said that DNA samples taken from body parts recovered from the scene would be compared with samples from Asmal's parents.

Mr Mere also said that police had intercepted an e-mail Asmal sent about six weeks ago which included code words for suicide bombings used by the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

HAVE YOUR SAY The entire building was shaking as if it was an earthquake Henk de Weers, The Netherlands Send us your comments World shock over blast

"In our interception, [he] mentions he wants to marry as soon as possible," Mr Mere told ABC Radio in Australia.

"It really it is a... code word of JI [Jemaah Islamiah]... he wants to make a suicide bomb."

Search for clues

The explosives and methods used to bomb a luxury hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday were similar to those used in the Bali bombing last year, Indonesian police said on Wednesday.

Investigators sifting through debris for clues about the blast said a similar cocktail of high and low grade explosives were used in Bali.

Police also said that documents found in the possession of JI members arrested last month indicated an attack in the area around the hotel was imminent and police patrols were stepped up.

The hotel is well-known as a place where foreigners and visiting diplomats stay.

In pictures: Bomb aftermath

An adjacent building houses the embassies of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

The attack came shortly before a verdict was expected in the trial of a key suspect in the Bali bombings, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim.

New warnings

Security has been tight in Indonesia since the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, and authorities have warned of similar threats.

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has warned that new intelligence indicates there could be more terrorist attacks in the city and Indonesia as a whole in coming days.

"We think there is a real risk that there could be further attacks. We have particular concerns at the moment about central Jakarta and also other places in Indonesia," he said.

Urging its citizens to exercise caution, the Australian Government has re-issued its travel warning against all non-essential travel to Indonesia.