Warning of bomb in text message
By Marianne Kearney in Jakarta (Filed: 11/09/2004)
Indonesian police were warned about the bomb attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta in a mobile phone text message 45 minutes before the bomb exploded, Alexander Downer, the Australian foreign minister, said yesterday.
The message said a western embassy would be attacked unless Abu Bakar Bashir, the Islamic cleric being held on suspicion of involvement in terrorism, was released immediately.
Bashir, alleged to be the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the group behind the Bali bombings, is due to be put on trial later this month.
Mr Downer, who met President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday, said: "Terrorists need to know that the Indonesian and Australian governments, and others as well, will hunt them down until we catch every single one of them."
Indonesian police said they suspected Thursday's embassy attack, which killed at least nine people, was carried out by up to three people. "Militants arrested recently said there were three men who were ready to become suicide bombers," a police chief said.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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