3RD LD: Bali death toll set at 181, al-Qaida link suspected

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Oct 21, 2002

KUTA, Indonesia, Oct. 14 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH MINISTERS' COMMENTS IN JAKARTA)

As the death toll from a massive bomb explosion Saturday night on the Indonesian resort island of Bali was revised downward to 181, the country's defense minister said he was ''sure'' the al-Qaida terror network had a hand in the blast.

Earlier reports had put the death toll as high as 188.

Defense Minister Matori Abdul Jalil told a press conference in Jakarta that the deadly blast outside Sari Club discotheque at Kuta Beach, which was packed with Australians and other foreigners at the time, ''has convinced me that the (al-Qaida) network exists in Indonesia.''

He added that while solid evidence to substantiate his claim may not yet exist, ''It's just like God, you cannot see him but you can see his creations, like the sun and stars.''

Matori was apparently expressing merely his personal view and his claim was not echoed by other senior government figures who spoke to reporters during the day.

After an unusual four-hour-long special cabinet meeting, headed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters the government will henceforth ''take firmer action and will no longer be doubtful in fighting against terrorism.''

''Let us stop making non-objective statements and comments, such as that there is no terrorism in Indonesia and etc.,'' he said.

Vice President Hamzah Haz called the bombing ''a terrorist act'' and said the perpetrators should be punished whoever they are, '' be they common people, high officials, or ulema (Islamic clerics.)''

Indonesia has widely been considered to be the weak link in the U.S.-led global war against terrorism.

Ahmad, the health minister, told a press conference in Bali that Indonesian authorities are facing challenges in identifying the badly burned and disfigured bodies.

''We are now trying to find the owners of the bodies' parts,'' he said.

The 39 bodies so far identified consist of 15 Australians, eight Britons, six Indonesians, five Singaporeans, and one citizen each from the Netherlands, Ecuador, France, Germany and New Zealand.

''Most of them died from heat and blast injuries,'' said Tjakra Manuaba, chief of a police medical unit in charge of identifying disaster victims.

Edi Suparwata, chief of the unit's forensic team, which is being assisted by an Australian forensic team, cited difficulties in identifying the bodies through conventional means, such as by way of physical characteristics like tattoos and body piercing, personal belongings, fingerprints and teeth-prints.

''The DNA test is very expensive and therefore we will use it as the last resort,'' he added.

Manuaba called on the families of the victims to provide data to help in identifying the victims, saying, ''We understand that this situation is very saddening for all, but by helping, at least they can find their loved ones among the bodies.''

A long line of foreign tourists was seen waiting to donate blood at the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar, Bali's capital.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister John Howard told parliament in Canberra that 14 Australians are among the confirmed dead with another 220 Australians missing and 113 injured, 70 of whom had arrived back in Australia after being evacuated by the Royal Australian Air Force.

He said that in a telephone conversation with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri Sunday, the two leaders agreed the bombings were ''clearly the act of terrorists, there can be no other explanation.''

''It was a terrible reminder that terrorism can strike anyone at anytime. Nobody anywhere in the world is immune to terrorism.''

About 30 minutes after the first blast Saturday night, another explosion took place in a different tourist area on the island, about 100 meters east of the U.S. Consulate General in Sanur. But no casualties were reported.

Seven Japanese were hurt in the disco blast and resulting fire, two seriously, a Japanese consulate official said. The two were flown Monday to Singapore for skin graft surgery.

Police said the bomb, presumably planted inside a car parked in front of the nightclub, is believed to have utilized a highly sensitive, plastic high explosive used almost exclusively for military purposes like blowing up bridges.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and Indonesian authorities have named no particular suspects.

But Singapore and Malaysia are blaming the attack on Jemaah Islamiyah, an alleged terrorist group with links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The radical Muslim cleric believed behind Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, on Sunday accused foreigners of carrying out the attack, saying, ''Indonesians can't make that powerful a bomb.''

Until now, Bali was considered one of the safest places in the country. But Saturday's incidents are likely to deal a blow to tourism on the mainly Hindu island.

Bali Gov. I Made Dewa Beratha said the government plans to build a monument at the scene of the blast with the list of the victims written on it to say to the world that such a tragedy should never happen