Indonesia parliament damaged by bomb

A bomb exploded in Indonesia's parliament today, causing minor damage.

A bomb exploded in Indonesia's parliament today, causing minor damage.

Parliament is in recess and police said no one was injured.

The explosion, in the basement of the building, came as Indonesia grapples with Muslim militant groups and ethnic rebellions. It came days after police captured a group of Islamic militants and seized explosives.

Police said the device, which went off at 8.30 a.m. was placed near an air-conditioning unit at the back of a room used for catering but close to the main parliamentary auditorium, which was empty at the time.

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On Friday, police announced they had foiled plans by Islamic radicals to attack churchesand shops in Jakarta and had arrested nine suspected militants from the Southeast Asian Muslim network Jemaah Islamiah.

But security analysts said it was too soon to connect the latest attack with Jemaah Islamiah, a group linked to al-Qaeda.

Jemaah, established to form an Islamic state in Muslim areas of Southeast Asia, is blamed for the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, in October 2002.