Bomb threat '11 days' ahead of Bali attack

Intelligence agency said it had widespread warnings over attacks

By Kathy Marks in Jakarta

22 October 2002

Indonesian intelligence warned 11 days before the Bali bombs that a major terrorist attack in the country was imminent but the government ignored the warning, sources in Jakarta said yesterday.

The warning on 1 October did not specify Bali as a target but predicted a large-scale attack linked to the international al-Qa'ida terrorist network. It followed the arrest in Indonesia in mid-September of Seyam Reda, a German-born Arab captured with video footage of armed civilians training at a camp in the Poso area of Sulawesi island.

The area has been the scene of sporadic conflict between Christians and Muslims for the past three years. The sources said the warning was dismissed by the Indonesian vice-president, Hamzah Haz, who leads the country's largest Muslim party, and by senior members of parliament.

Indonesia's state intelligence agency, Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN), said yesterday it believed the Bali bombs were planted by the same group – or a group with identical political beliefs – that carried out the 11 September attacks in the United States.

Muchyar Yara, spokesman for BIN, said: "We have come to the conclusion this Bali bomb has much similarity with the World Trade Centre. Whoever is responsible is from the same or related organisations. They have the same characteristics, the same aim of struggle, the same goal."

Mr Muchyar cited the long and intricate planning in both cases, the unexpected locations, the failure by any group to claim responsibility, and the breadth and randomness of the targets that included nationals of numerous countries and many Muslims.

Jamaah Islamiya, an Indonesian-based militant Islamic group associated with al-Qa'ida, is suspected of planting the bombs that killed more than 180 people in two Bali nightclubs 10 days ago.

Police are waiting to interview the group's suspected leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, a radical cleric who was arrested last weekend after going into hospital in his home city of Solo, central Java. Police are not convinced he is genuinely ill, but appear reluctant to force him to leave hospital.

Mr Bashir's lawyer, Achmad Michdan, said yesterday his client would face the death penalty if convicted of any of the charges.

Allegations listed in a letter handed to him in hospital by police include participation in a plot to assassinate the Indonesian President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, and involvement in a spate of bombings in Jakarta. The letter does not mention the Bali explosions. Mr Bashir denies all charges.

Mr Muchyar said intelligence officers believed they had identified members of a terrorist cell responsible.

Mr Muchyar said further terrorist attacks in Indonesia were likely. Three days ago, BIN passed on intelligence about threats to a karaoke bar in Jakarta and a hotel near the Buddhist temple of Borobodur, Java's biggest tourist attraction. An area frequented by Westerners in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, might also be targeted.

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