Rockets Fired at U.S., Japanese Embassies in Jakarta

Three homemade rockets were fired at the U.S. and Japanese embassies Wednesday, and a car bomb went off outside a building housing Canada’s mission, but no one was injured, Jakarta’s military commander said.

Maj. Gen. Sugito said none of the rockets exploded. The bomb destroyed the car in which it was planted and damaged five other vehicles.

Intelligence sources said privately that the attacks appeared to be the work of a small extremist group with possible support from Libyans. In Paris, London, Rome and Tokyo, anonymous telephone callers claimed responsibility on behalf of a previously unknown group called the Anti-Imperialist International Brigades.

In an announcement on national radio and television, Sugito said the attacks were carried out by unknown people or groups. However, he said that a foreigner was involved in firing a rocket at the Japanese Embassy from a hotel room across the street.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Nugroho said police arrested a Japanese man who tried to run out of the hotel carrying a bag. An official in Tokyo later said the man’s passport may have been stolen.

Other Missiles Found

The rockets fired at the U.S. Embassy were launched from the Indonesian national monument about 220 yards north of it, Sugito said. Police said they defused two other homemade explosive devices found near the monument.

Sugito displayed one of the rocket launchers, a long steel tube he said contained batteries and a timing device but was poorly made.

Gerald Huchel, a U.S. Embassy spokesman, said one rocket landed in the compound at 10:55 a.m. after a “large noise” was heard. He said the device was made of tin cans taped or fused together, and part of it had broken off. Authorities found a similar projectile on the chancery roof.

A third rocket hit the third floor of the Japanese Embassy.

The car bomb went off about 25 yards from a building where the Canadian Embassy has its offices on the fifth floor. The building, owned by Chinese tycoon Liem Sioe Liong, a close friend of President Suharto, is in a complex that also houses two banks, a U.S. Information Service library and IBM’s local offices.

Envoy’s Car Damaged

Sugito said the bombing was aimed at the embassy and that one of the damaged cars belonged to a Canadian diplomat.

Police said the rocket fired on the Japanese Embassy was launched from a room in the President Hotel, where they found a bag, rocket launcher and about three quarts of gasoline. They said they were looking for three Libyans reported seen with a man who had occupied the room.

They said security was tightened at Jakarta’s international airport, but they feared the Libyans already had left the country.

Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, said a man speaking English with a strong foreign accent told its offices in Paris and Rome that the Anti-Imperialist International Brigades took “complete responsibility for the attacks against American, Canadian and Japanese targets in Jakarta,” which he said were “a reply to the seven-nation summit in Tokyo.” Callers made similar statements to Kyodo news agency in Tokyo and United Press International in London.