Bali blast: Italian arrested

News24.com ^ | November 7 2002 | Sapa-AFP

[knighthawk]

Rome - An Italian national, who owns a bar in Bali, has been arrested on the Indonesian island in connection with last month's deadly bomb attack there, reports Italy's Panorama weekly.

It reported that a Milan native, named Andrea Sartoni, and said to own another bar close to the Sari Club, was in custody in connection with the bombing on October 12.

It said the Italian foreign ministry had confirmed that Sartoni was in custody, but that no further information was immediately available.

"We know he has been arrested, but we have been told it is in connection with his residency permit," said a Sartoni relative interviewed by La Repubblica daily.

More than 180 people were killed in the bomb attack, which ripped through a packed nightclub in Bali's popular Kuta beach district.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[dixiechick2000]

"...Milan native, named Andrea Sartoni..."

Hmmmm...I guess Italy may have home grown terrorists, too.

If he's involved in the Bali bombing, my hat's off to Italy for catching him!

[Dan Day]

It reported that a Milan native, named Andrea Sartoni, and said to own another bar close to the Sari Club, was in custody in connection with the bombing on October 12.

Is it possible that the motive was nothing more than just ruthlessly knocking out the competition?

[John Valentine]

Yeah, another really brainy idea. Blow up the competition's bar, kill a couple hundred holiday makers, drive away all the customers not only from the Sari Club and Paddy's, but from the entire island including your own bar, and make common cause with the scum of the earth in the process. Does this sound even remotely likely?

Somehow I expect that this really is only a residence permit problem, which I can tell you from experience is rather common in Indonesia and in Bali in particular.

[anymouse]

Check today's news. No it wasn't a bar rivalry that motivated the Bali blast. But the motivation of the confessed suspect is even more bizzar.