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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesia V-P blames Bali blast on weak intelligence, security |
| 2002-10-13 |
| Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz partly blamed weak intelligence and poor security measures on Sunday for the overnight blast that killed at least 182 people in the resort island of Bali. "Our weakness so far has been in intelligence. Our intelligence should not be NATO — No Action Talk Only," Hamzah was quoted by Antara news agency as saying. "Those in charge of security affairs must follow up on any information and detect (any threat) more accurately," he said. "It can then be ignored more accurately... Hamzah said Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ought to explain why the explosion had happened. "Our weakness lies in the management of politics and security," he said. "Yes. Explain yourself, Susilo. I, your Vice President, am waiting to hear an explanation of your neglect of terrorism..." The Vice President warned that the bomb attack would scare off investors desperately needed by Indonesia as it was struggling to emerge from an economic crisis. "We have to establish security in this country, otherwise no investor will come and our country will collapse," he said. "Not that I think killing a couple hundred infidels is wrong, mind you..." The overnight explosion destroyed two bars in the tourist district of Kuta and triggered an intense blaze that burned for hours. Haz has warned that allegations by foreign countries that international Islamic terrorists are active in Indonesia could provoke a violent backlash here. What was this? A violent frontlash? I'm not familiar with the term... He seems to be saying not to alledge that international Islamic terrorists are active in Indonesia, or Islamic terrorists will kill large numbers of people. Many in Indonesia also believe that the U.S. has overstated the threats. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |