The Hindu : Over 180 killed in Bali blast

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 14, 2002

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Over 180 killed in Bali blast

By P.S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Oct. 13. At least 180 persons, most of them Australian and Western tourists, were killed in a powerful car-bomb explosion at a beachside night club at Denpasar in the traditionally-tranquil Indonesian holiday-resort of Bali in the late hours of Saturday. The Indonesian authorities estimated the number of injured victims at more than 270. A mild explosion occurred near the U.S. consular office in Bali, but this as also another blast at Manado in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province did not cause fatalities.

The U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Ralph Boyce, not only condemned the gruesome car-bomb explosion as a "despicable act of terrorism'' but also offered "all appropriate assistance'' to the Indonesian authorities so that those responsible could face justice. The Indonesian President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, who rushed to the site of explosion, said in Jakarta that the brutal act was "against the existing laws, religious teachings and moral values'' of the Indonesian nation. The security establishment had swung into action to investigate the crime and nab those responsible to bring them to justice.

The latest horrific episode of violence, on a scale of unprecedented proportions in South-East Asia since the terrorist strikes rocked the U.S. in September 2001 has firmly turned the spotlight on Indonesia, which is facing delicate domestic rumblings over its decision to extend a general but firm support to the U.S. in its "global campaign'' against terrorism.

Indonesia's neighbours, particularly Singapore and Malaysia, have been hinting that Jakarta's cooperation would be crucial to track and erase the terror menace in South East Asia with a laser-beam focus.

Distraught over the Bali tragedy, the Australian Prime Minster, John Howard, called for "unrelenting vigour'' and also "unconditional commitment'' by all nations to roll back the surge of terrorist violence which could touch ``anybody, anywhere, at anytime''. The Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, noted that the terrorist nature of the Bali tragedy was transparent indeed.

While the Indonesian security forces indicated that the victims of the Bali tragedy were mostly from Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany and Sweden, many other countries also went on the alert to make sure that their nationals were not among the victims, given the popularity of Bali, a mainly Hindu enclave in a predominantly-Muslim Indonesia, as an international tourist resort.

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