Posted on 10/31/2002 6:21:32 PM PST by blam
Raids anger Indonesia
By Barbie Dutter in Sydney
(Filed: 01/11/2002)
Vice-President Hamzah Haz of Indonesia warned Australia yesterday that an anti-terrorism offensive against Indonesian Muslims in Australian cities could damage relations between the two countries.
He was referring to a series of raids aimed at flushing out sympathisers of the militant Muslim network Jemaah Islamiah.
The Australian government staunchly rejected criticism of the sweep, in which heavily armed intelligence agents and police have stormed homes in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, seizing documents, computer equipment and mobile phones.
The only arrests to date have been in connection with visa violations. Three men have admitted attending lectures given by Jemaah Islamiah's spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, during the cleric's visits to Australia, but denied direct links to the group, which is strongly suspected of orchestrating the Bali nightclub bombings that killed more than 190 people, including 88 Australians.
Yup. Democrats come to mind too.
If they keep up good work like this, we should give them some if Indonesia becomes a problem for them...
Australian police say expert bombers planned the blasts that tore through two nightclubs on the Indonesian island of Bali to maximise casualties.
"The degree of co-ordination including the vehicle placement really reflected a high degree of planning and a high degree of expertise," said Graham Ashton, the federal police officer leading Australian detectives investigating the blast.
Mr Ashton says his colleagues believe the blast that devastated the Sari Club was caused by the explosive chlorate and that it was set off by a "booster charge" such as TNT.
He revealed that 400 kilos of chlorate was stolen in September from a location on Indonesia's main island of Java, but he declined to elaborate on the theft.
Mr Ashton says an "above average level of expertise" was required to build the three bombs that went off on October 12 in close succession in the Kuta beach resort and the island's capital, Denpasar.
More than 180 people - including around 30 Britons - were killed in the explosions, which started an inferno in the popular Sari club, reducing it to a tangle of girders and charred wood.
Many of the young revellers who perished were so badly burned they have not yet been identified.
Mr Ashton declined to speculate on involvement of terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and the radical Islamic Southeast Asian organisation, Jemaah Islamiyah.
The Australian government and Indonesian officials have named the groups as the main suspects in the attack.
He also says detectives have pieced together 3-D computer images of the devastation to allow experts to continue their investigation.
Story filed: 00:35 Friday 1st November 2002
It looks like they are doing what they have to do, and to heck with PC.
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