Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Traffic on the roads was as chaotic as any other day, offices and shops were open for business and people made their way about the city unperturbed.
Except for the mid-day TV news bulletins and the afternoon tabloids which hit the streets with banner headlines, Jakarta barely paused to register the impact of yesterday's grenade explosion close to a US embassy-owned house, that raised some fears that American facilities are being targeted by radical elements.
Indeed, there was widespread scepticism that the US facility was the intended target although National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar said as much early in the day. Later, he called the explosion "coincidental" and refused to commit himself further while investigations were on.
There was no statement from President Megawati Sukarnoputri's office or from any of her ministers to clarify the government position. The US embassy, too, maintained there was no sign that US interests were targeted.
The common refrain in the capital was that Indonesia was in a period of transition and there could be several motives and any number of groups behind the blast. The scepticism was not surprising, said analysts, given the number of unsolved bombing and blast cases that have occurred in Jakarta over the past two years.
Political analyst Riza Sihbudi said: "We don't even know the actors and the motivation behind the last explosion in Jakarta so the police would need to make it really clear what the evidence is." The last major explosion in Jakarta occurred outside a nightclub in June, injuring several people.
The head of Indonesia's largest and most moderate Muslim organisation, Nahdlatul Ulema (NU), Mr Hasyim Muzadi, refused to comment saying it was not clear who or what was behind the blast.
Lawyer Mohammad Mahendradatta, who advises Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual head of the Jemaah Islamiah network, and Jafaar Umar Thalib, the Laskar Jihad chief, said he doubted the blast was connected to any militant Muslim group.
"I checked with all my clients and none of them said they knew anything about it," he said. Mr Mahendradatta's "clients" include not only Jafaar, who is being tried for inciting communal violence in Maluku, but several other Muslim groups such as Front Hizbullah and Laskar Jendelah from Solo, Central Java.
These groups last year threatened to expel Americans from Solo in response to the US bombing campaign in Afghanistan. Anti-American sentiments have flared up here over the perceived international pressure for a crackdown on militants.
The House foreign affairs committee has called on party leaders and the parliament to take a strong stance against what they term as American propaganda describing Indonesia as potentially fertile ground for Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Along with a number of other religious leaders, NU's Mr Hasyim maintained that a CIA report, which revealed there were terrorist plots to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri, was intended to tarnish Indonesia's reputation.