JAKARTA, April 24 Kyodo A bomb ex...

JAKARTA, April 24 Kyodo

A bomb explod near the UN building in central Jakarta early Thursday, les than 24 hours after police announced the arrest of 18 members of Jemaah Islamiyah, an alleged southeast Asian wing of the al-Qaida terrorist network, police and officials said.

Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Chief Makbul Padmanegara told reporters the explosion occurr around 5:30 a.m. forward a small bridge about 6 meter from the UN building.

''It was a low-explosive bomb We are investigating the material and the target of the bombing,'' Makbul said.

There have been no reports of casualties or injuries in this way far and no single in kind has been arrested.

forward Wednesday, police arrested Abu Rusdan, the suspected strange leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, who was named after leader Abu Bakar Bashir was arrested last year. Bashir is popularly on trial for treason, document falsification and immigration violations.

Police also said they have arrested 17 Jemaah Islamiyah members, including Malaysian Nasir Abas, an alleged Jemaah Islamiyah leader responsible for Brunei, Sabah, the southern Philippines, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Nasir Abas was arrested last Friday and 16 others were apprehended Sunday.

Three men allegedly involved in the deadly Oct 12 Bali bombings were among those arrested, police said.

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