Blast At U.S. Restaurant In Indonesia

A bomb exploded at an American fast food restaurant in the capital of the world's most populous Muslim nation Saturday, seriously wounding one person believed to be carrying the device, police and witnesses said.

Indonesia has been hit by a series of deadly bombings by al Qaeda linked militants, separatists and criminal gangs in recent years, and police said it was too early to speculate on the motive.

But its timing — just over a week before a planned visit by U.S. President George W. Bush — was likely to add to security jitters in the country.

The lunchtime blast cracked a window and shattered lamps at the A&W burger restaurant in an eastern Jakarta shopping mall rarely visited by foreigners, said an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

A restaurant employee said staff had seen a man outside the eatery who looked seriously ill, and brought him inside to offer him food or medicine. A small bomb then fell from his bag and went off, said A&W cashier Sofyan, who uses only name.

The man was badly injured and was being treated at a nearby hospital, Police Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam.

Alam said as the bomb squad arrived at the mall, which was quickly sealed off by police.

Bush is scheduled to make a brief stopover in Indonesia — seen as a close ally in Washington's war on terror — on Nov. 20 after attending an APEC meeting in Vietnam.

Security will be tight, with some 20,000 soldiers and police deployed for his 10-hour visit and reports that all mobile phone lines and internet access will be cut.

The Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for four attacks targeting Western interests in Indonesia since 2002, two in the capital and two on the resort island of Bali that together killed more than 240 people.

More than 300 militants have been arrested in a major crackdown, but police and foreign intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that terrorists were planning more strikes, probably before the year's end.

Police Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said that Saturday's bombing did not appear to be a suicide attack or a failed larger explosion.

"It's too early to talk about motives because the attacker is still not conscious," he said, adding that security at the Kramatjati mall is not as tight as other high-profile shopping centers in the capital.