Asmar Latin Sani

Who is Asmar Latin Sani?

Asmar Latin Sani, from West Sumatra, was the suicide bomber who detonated the car bomb in the August 5 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing. His severed head was later found on the fifth floor of the building.

Before the Marriott Hotel bombing Azhari Husin was known to have stayed with him, at his Bengkulu home on the island of Sumatra Indonesia.

On May 5, 2006 the International Crisis Group released a report entitled Terrorism in Indonesia. It described the events leading up the attack;

In January 2003, Rais, Noordin and Azhari moved to Bengkulu, where a group of JI members lived, including Asmar Latin Sani, who became the Marriott suicide bomber. Noordin and Azhari planned the bombing there as a way of putting the explosives to good use. JI members in Bengkulu, Lampung, and Riau were involved in some planning and logistical support but were not told the target. Interestingly, Noordin began to plan for a spectacular attack with some of the Bengkulu members just as others from their wakalah were taking part in a program to refresh their military skills, as a response to the exposure and arrests that followed the Bali bombings. For most of the top JI leadership, this was a time for training and consolidation – not new attacks. But Hambali had set the precedent of going off on his own, and Noordin followed it.