A car bomb exploded outside the fortified Australian embassy in
Jakarta Thursday killing at least seven people and causing massive
damage just weeks before Australia, a key US ally in Iraq, votes in
general elections.
The force of the blast, which Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer described as a terrorist attack on his country,
punched windows out of nearby tower blocks and badly mangled the
security perimeter around the embassy.
Indonesian officials confirmed a bomb had caused the blast,
which follows alerts by the United States and Australia warning
that Islamic extremists blamed for other attacks in Indonesia could
strike again.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah was responsible for the
October 2002 Bali bomb attacks in which 202 people, 88 of them
Australian, were killed and an August 2003 car bomb strike on
Jakarta's Marriott hotel that left 12 dead.
Officials at hospitals in Jakarta's confirmed seven fatalities
from Thursday's blast and at least 99 injured. A list of casualties
issued by the hospital showed up to five foreigners were among the
injured.
The blast at around 10:30 am (0330 GMT) prompted the immediate
evacuation of the embassy and caused a sharp drop of nearly four
percent on the Jakarta stock market.
Witnesses said a police truck and a taxi in front of the embassy
had been blown apart and the high steel fence surrounding the
building in the Kuningan business and residential district was
damaged.
A guard's post in front of the embassy was also destroyed.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw burning debris in the road
outside the embassy, roughly 100 meters (yards) from the perimeter
wall, as emergency services tried to extinguish flames and tend to
the injured.
A nearby multi-story commercial block was left windowless by the
blast
The Australian foreign ministry in Canberra said the explosion
shattered windows in the embassy compound and damaged cars, but
there were no immediate reports of injuries among embassy
staff.
"The embassy has been evacuated in line with established
procedures," she said.
The conservative Australian government of Prime Minister John
Howard, which is seeking reelection next month, has warned
Australians to avoid travel to Indonesia because of the threat of
terrorist attacks.
Australian Foreign Minister Downer, who is due to fly into
Jakarta later Thursday, said the blast was a deliberate strike on
Australian interests, although no Australian citizens were
killed.
"It is clearly a terrorist attack, it was outside the Australian
embassy, you would have to conclude that it was directed towards
Australia," Downer told reporters in Adelaide.
"At this stage we don't know who was responsible for the
explosion, it could take a bit of time to establish that, as is
often the case," Downer said. "Naturally enough our suspicions turn
to Jemaah Islamiah."
Both Australia and the United States last week raised new
warnings urging their citizens and officials to avoid Western
hotels in Jakarta following fresh concerns they could be hit by
terrorists.
The warnings reminded citizens to defer non-essential travel to
the Southeast Asian archipelago.
Australia, which joined the United States in invading Iraq last
year and has been a key supporter of the US-led war on terror, has
been on alert for possible attacks ahead of national elections to
be held on October 9.
(China Daily September 9, 2004)