July 17, 2009
By Arsalan Iftikhar
With over 17,508 islands, Indonesia is known around the globe as the largest archipelago in the world. With a population of over 240.2 million people, it also currently ranks as the 4th most populated nation on earth and has sadly been no stranger to global terrorism.
From the horrific 2002 Bali nightclub bombings (which killed over 201 people) to a 2003 bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel (which killed over 12 people and was one of the two sites of the most recent July 2009 terrorist attack); Indonesia has had to face the challenge of being one of the most vibrant multi-ethnic (and multi-religious) democracies in the world today.
At around 7:45am local time on Friday July 17, 2009, near-simultaneous explosions tore through both the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in downtown Jakarta during the morning breakfast hour, killing at least nine (9) people and injuring over fifty people, according to an Indonesian presidential spokesman.
“I looked out my window and I saw a huge cloud of brownish smoke go up,” said Greg Woolstencroft in a live telephone interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper right outside the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta; where he had once lived for an entire year.
Continue Reading Arsalan’s July 2009 Column Here…
