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JAKARTA: Suicide bombers. Simultaneous blasts. High-profile targets frequented by foreigners and the well-heeled.
These have been some of the trademarks of past terror strikes by the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Indonesia - which quickly made the militant group the prime suspect in the breakfast bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.
The twin blasts, which left at least nine dead and 53 wounded, prompted many regional security analysts and experts in JI affairs to immediately speculate that the group, thought to have been greatly weakened in recent years with the arrest of key leaders and bomb makers, was far from being just "no action, talk only" as some have speculated.
"The bombings show that the JI is revived," proclaimed terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna on Friday.
But while the militant group, or a splinter of the JI, makes for an obvious suspect, there are those in Jakarta and around the region who believe that the twin bombings - which brought a deafening end to Indonesia's four-year break from terror - is perhaps related to the recent presidential poll, which saw Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono re-elected for a second five-year term.
"Most of the local and foreign media have jumped on the JI bandwagon. It is a lot more complex," a senior Jakarta-based analyst, who cannot be named for security reasons, told Weekend TODAY. The two suicide bombers, he said, were nothing more than "patsies".
The analyst suggested instead that elements of the military, past or present, may be involved.
"The palace and the state intelligence agency have been concerned in recent weeks about reprisals from political rivals to destabilise the country. The President alluded to this during his speech, when he took a direct swipe saying that 'there are still murderers, who made people disappear, walking free'," the analyst told Weekend Today, referring to Mr Yudhoyono's press conference following the carnage.
In 1998, during the dying days of the Suharto presidency, some elements within the military were accused of stirring social unrest and starting riots in an attempt to cause panic and destabilise Indonesia.
In fact, Mr Yudhoyono himself told reporters that he had heard similar theories linking the bombings to politics - a scenario, which a TODAY team in Jakarta, found was widely held among the average Indonesian.
"This morning I heard from several parties who have an unsettling theory that this terror act is related to the presidential election," Mr Yudhoyono said. "My response is that we should not point fingers and suspicions. All theories and speculation should be proven," he added.
The President went on to reveal that he had received videos and photos from intelligence agencies showing photographs of himself being used for shooting practice around the time of the election. Holding up a photo of his portrait pierced by what appeared to be a bullet hole, an emotional Yudhoyono said: "There are video recordings and pictures. This is not slander, this is not a rumour."
It was not long before Mr Yudhoyono's closest rivals in the election, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri and her running mate, ex-special forces commander Prabowo Subianto, accused Mr Yudhoyono of attempting to blacken the names of his rivals.
"I regret that SBY is trying to find a scapegoat. Megawati and Prabowo have no intention of using violent means or illegal actions," their campaign spokesman Sony Keraf told reporters.
Analysts, however, have wondered how the suicide bombers managed to bring the two or more homemade bombs - packed with nails, ballbearings, nuts and bolts to cause maximum carnage - into room 1808 at the JW Marriott hotel, which Indonesian police have described as the "control centre" of the attack despite the stringent security checks, including vehicle searches, metal detectors and even Rottweiler dogs.
National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the two suicide bombers who carried out the attacks at JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton, struck at about 7.45 in the morning in the hotel restaurants as guests and businessmen were having breakfast.
He said police would examine the body parts of the suspected bombers to try to identify them.
"The bombs which exploded at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton were similar and were transported from JW Marriott room number 1808. There was one unexploded bomb left (in the room) which was dismantled," Mr Danuri said.
Another police spokesman said the bombs used were "identical" to others used in previous JI attacks. But, he added, "we can't just say it was the JI because an investigation is still ongoing".
Indonesian police are now looking at the possibility that Malaysian-born Noordin Mohammed Top, a master bombmaker still on the loose, may be involved.
Noordin is the chief ideologue of JI's most violent wing and is wanted for his alleged role in several attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.
"If it was a suicide bombing, then it's certainly a possibility that this was done by Noordin's network," said Ms Sidney Jones, International Crisis Group think-tank terrorism analyst.
However, Ms Jones added: "Noordin is no longer acting in the name of JI. He's a splinter of JI."
Terrorist expert Dr Gunaratna believes that the JI is the "only group with the intention and capability to mount attacks upon Western targets".
"I have no doubt Jemaah Islamiyah was responsible for this attack,'' he said.
In the past, JI has used car bombs but barricades and layout changes as well as other measures at the best-protected luxury and Western hotels in Jakarta and Bali have made it harder for that kind of attacks.
Hence, the change in tactic of posing as a hotel guest -- if indeed the dead suicide bombers were JI operatives.
Mr Clive Williams , from the Strategic and Defense Studies Center in Canberra, said Friday's bombings might have had a dual purpose - to undermine the Indonesian government as well as to bolster recruitment and strengthen the splintered group.
"I think it is more a matter of showing that they (JI operatives) can still do things. It might be related to recruitment, pressure within the cell for them to do something as it's very hard to hold a cell together when you don't do anything.
"...I suspect it is only a very small element of JI that is responsible for this," Mr Williams said.
If Friday's bombings indeed mark the return of a reenergised JI, even in the form of individual splinter cells, then it won't be just Indonesians who have plenty to worry about.
- TODAY With reporting by agencies
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