Hi Jay, <<... My partners and I are now making a direct investment in Thailand beach land and intend to do a master plan, and try to interest any resort group to develop and manage same ...>>
Is nothing sacred?! The WAT-WOT-Whatnot spreads to Bali, as oil on water. Looks like IDTU (Indonesia Down, Thailand Up), because the US is looking to Australia to keep anti-matters under wrap in Indonesia, as if a nation of 18 mm can do the job required in a territory of 180 mm, and so, the US will soon feel compelled to export more troops. The national compulsory draft cannot be far away:
online.wsj.com.
October 12, 2002 8:37 p.m. EDT
Death Toll Climbs to 58
In Bali Nightclub Bombing
Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A bomb destroyed a nightclub on the tourist island of Bali Saturday, killing at least 58 people and injuring nearly 180 others. Authorities said a second bomb exploded near the island's U.S. consular office.
Fifteen foreigners were among those killed in the Sari Club at the Kuta Beach resort on the island, said Lt. Col. Yatim Suyatno, a police spokesman.
A second explosive detonated about 300 feet from a U.S. consular office in the nearby city of Denpasar, Bali's capital, Col. Suyatno said. Police said there were no casualties in that blast.
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Go to the Aftermath of Terror1 page.
Witnesses on the world famous tourist island, especially favored by Australians, said that the explosion sparked a blaze that engulfed another nearby nightclub and damaged several other buildings on the same block and a dozen cars.
"The place was packed, and it went up within a millisecond," Simon Quayle, the coach of an Australian rules football team, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Mr. Quayle, whose team was visiting Bali and at the resort at the time of the blast, said he made it safely out of the building but eight of his 19 players were missing.
"We have received 58 bodies and 178 injured people," said Sri Ayu, a nurse at Denpassar's main Sanghlah Hospital.
Col. Suyatno said he could not provide the identities of the dead or their nationalities. British officials said at least five Britons were injured.
A bomb squad was investigating both blasts but Indonesian officials declined to provide a motive or blame any group.
But Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer blamed it on terrorism. "It looks as though this was a terrorist attack," he said on Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.
He said Australians were almost certainly among the dead, estimating that at least 40 Australians were injured, about 15 of them seriously.
The blasts, occurring on the second anniversary of the al Qaeda linked attack against USS Cole off Yemen that left 17 sailors dead, come amid increasing fears by the United States and others that Indonesia is becoming a safe haven for terrorists and that al Qaeda operatives are active there.
Indonesian officials have denied the claims, but the U.S. Embassy in the national capital of Jakarta closed Sept. 10 and remained shut for six days due to what U.S. officials said were threats possibly linked to al Qaeda. And Americans traveling in central Java were warned to be vigilant.
Days later, a hand grenade exploded in a car near a house belonging to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, killing one man. There was conflicting information as to whether the device was meant to harm Americans.
Two years ago, a blast in front of the Philippine embassy in Jakarta killed two people and injured dozens, including the Philippine ambassador.
White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said Washington was monitoring the situation and working with Indonesian authorities.
"We don't know if these blasts are connected," said a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Jakarta who declined to be identified. She said she didn't know if there were any Americans among the casualties.
The injured were being treated in area hospitals and clinics, said officials at Sanglah hospital in Denpasar, 600 miles east of Jakarta.
Police and the military restricted access in and out of Bali from Denpasar's Ngurah Rai airport and the area seaports in Benoa, Gilimanuk and Padang Bai, Col. Suyatno said, according to a report carried by the state-run Antara news agency.
Although Indonesia has been wracked by ethnic and religious violence since the overthrow four years ago of former dictator Suharto, Bali itself has remained quiet. Saturday's bombings are likely to be a huge blow to Indonesia's lucrative tourism industry and might also undermine government efforts to revive the economy.
The blasts in Bali came just hours after a small handmade bomb on Indonesia's Sulawesi island broke three windows of the Philippine consulate in the city of Manado, said Suleman Munde, a security guard at the building, which was closed at the time of the explosion.
Police Lt. Col. Henjke Kuwara said the explosive device had been planted at the fence of building. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Authorities in Malaysia and Singapore have alleged that members of Jemaah Islamiyah -- a group said to be seeking to set up an Islamic state in Southeast Asia -- are based in Indonesia.
Singapore has been pressing Indonesia to arrest Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, who lives in Indonesia. But Indonesian officials say they have no evidence against him.
Copyright (c) 2002 Associated Press |
