| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| RI government strongly condemns bomb blasts in Bali, Manado |
| 2002-10-13 |
| The Indonesian government strongly condemned on Sunday bomb blasts in the resort island of Bali and the North Sulawesi capital of Manado on Saturday night, which claimed many lives. In its seven-point official statement read out by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the government expressed its condolences to the relatives of victims in the brutal and inhumane violence, which was against the existing laws, religious teachings and moral values adopted by the Indonesian nation. I actually don't see the slaughter as being very far out of the Indonesian experience. The difference is that it was a couple hundred foreigners and Hindus on Bali instead of a couple hundred Christians on Java or Maluku. It's the same mindset, the same kind of tactics. The President said a team of medical workers was continuing to provide medical treatment to victims in the bomb blasts that left at least 182 people dead and 131 others injured. The government warmly welcomed Australia's humanitarian aid to send medicines and a medical team, which is on the way to Bali, she said. If I was prime minister of Australia, which I'm not, thank God, Megawati would have blisters on her ears and I'd have a hit team told off to take out the country's vice president, Hambali, Bashir, and half a dozen others. "Security personnel are working hard to investigate the bomb blasts, launch a manhunt for the culprits and bring them to justice," said Megawati, who was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjorojati and Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda. The President asked the public to remain calm and increase its vigilance following the bomb blasts, adding that they "once again remind us that terrorism is a real danger and potential threat to national security." It's a reminder that will be forgotten in a week or so, given the Indonesian government's record to date... "The Indonesian government will continue to cooperate with the international community in dealing with terrorism, which also poses a threat to global security," she said. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |