HUNGARIANS MOURN VICTIMS OF BOMB EXPLOSION, AS ORBAN TALKS TO FBI
By: Stefan J. Bos and Tamas S. Kiss, NewsLife staff writers
BUDAPEST, July 3 (NewsLife)--Hungarian Prime Minister designate Viktor Orban will soon leave to the United States for discussions with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)about Hungary's security problems, a top Foreign Affairs official
told NewsLife Friday. The official, who did not want to be identified, spoke to NewsLife as large crowds of Hungarians said prayers and laid flowers in central Budapest where a powerful car bomb explosion killed 4 people and wounded 20 others on
Thursday.
"Prime Minister (designate) Orban wants to ask the FBI to help the Hungarian State in its struggle against organized crime," the official said. "He wants the FBI to send professionals to Hungary," he stressed. In an earlier interview with NewsLife, the Director of the FBI-lead International Law Enforcement Academy, Leslie Kaciban, said the US wanted to assist Hungary's police force. "We have already done so on several occasions and will continue to do that when necessary," he said.
"Organized crime groups are coming from this region, and they are now trying to enter the United States. So it is also in the interest of America's security to deal with this issue," Kaciban stressed. But while officials promised to crack down on crime, black ribbons and black flags were clear evidence Friday of a Capital that may need time to recover from one of Hungary's bloodiest bomb blasts in recent memory. Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky had urged his citizens to remember the "lose of innocent lives", and ordered public buildings to wave black flags.
"We have to show that the peaceful citizens of Budapest do not accept terrorism," he said. Besides a 43-year old businessman who was the main target in the bombing, three bystanders lost their lifes when the car bomb exploded shortly before noon. Demszky promised to allocate about HUF 225 million (apr. $1.1 million) to improve public security and the Budapest
Police. The Chief of the Budapest Police, Laszlo Forgacs, told reporters "the case was top priority" and that investigators identified two possible suspects in the latest bombing.
"Unfortunately they are still at large, but we will do everything we can to find the perpetrators," he said. Hungary's Prime Minister designate Viktor Orban, who visited some of the wounded on Thursday, appealed to the Hungarian nation not to let criminals influence their lives. "I can not accept that bomb attacks, brutal murders and armed robberies should dictate our daily life," he said. But experts say Orban may face an uphill battle in a country rocked by an estimated 140 bombings since 1991. Corruption within Hungary's underpaid Police force is rampant, and witnesses are scared to testify against organized crime gangs.
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