FBI investigates possible al Qaeda link to Bali bombing

11.45am

Although there have been no publicised claims of responsibility or obvious clues to the identity of those responsible for the bomb attack in Bali more than 24 hours after the carnage, fingers have been pointed at Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the US

"The world must confront this global menace, terrorism," US President George W Bush said. "And we must call this despicable act by its rightful name, murder." An FBI team was on its way to Bali to help in the blast investigation.

The most powerful of two blasts at 11pm Saturday (4am Sunday NZ time) demolished the Sari Club, a nightclub popular with young backpackers and surfers who flock to Kuta from all over the world, particularly Australia.

Asian neighbours have accused Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, of being reluctant to tackle Islamic extremists, despite evidence that the al Qaeda network has established a foothold in the sprawling archipelago.

"We would like to see a maximum effort on the part of the Indonesian government to deal with the terrorist problem within their own borders," Australian Prime Minister John Howard said after speaking to Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri by telephone.

"It's been a problem for a long time," he said.

Analysts said the most likely perpetrator was a group linked to or inspired by bin Laden's al Qaeda.

"There are a number of reasons that you have to say that it might be them (al Qaeda), but we don't know that," a senior US official said. "They've been in Indonesia... they're all running from Afghanistan. They've got to go some place."

Adding to pressure on Jakarta, the US embassy said it was considering plans to start scaling back the American diplomatic presence in the country.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was "horrified", a spokesman said. Britain offered to send an anti-terror team.

President Megawati, who flew to Bali after an emergency cabinet meeting, said the explosions were a warning that terrorism was a threat to national security. But she offered no clues on who authorities believed might be to blame.

"The Indonesian government will continue cooperation with the international community to overcome terrorism," she said.

Her chief security minister said troops had beefed up security around oil and gas facilities, some operated by foreign multinationals including Exxon Mobil, as well as mines for fear of further terrorist attacks.

Accompanied by several ministers, Megawati visited the smoking ruins of the Sari before stopping briefly at the 770-bed Sanglah Hospital, where she donned a surgical mask and visited burn victims.

Before dawn on Sunday, flames licked around the rubble of the Sari Club nightclub as tourists carried the injured away, many half-naked and moaning in pain.

Hospital staff said many dead were charred beyond recognition.

"It's nothing quite like anything I've ever seen -- there was more blood, the smell of burnt skin and the pain that they were in, you can't really put that into words," Melbourne tourist Martin Lyons told Australian television.

The death toll was this morning put at 216 with at least 300 people injured.

In addition to the two bombs in the Kuta district of Bali, another bomb went off 50m from the honorary US consulate in Sanur, another tourist area about 30 minutes away. No one was hurt in that explosion.

Among those missing were members of rugby teams from Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia playing in an annual ten-a-side tournament.

The blasts came on the second anniversary of the al Qaeda linked attack against the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen. They followed a bomb blast in Finland that killed seven people and wounded dozens.

The United States and Singapore, which has detained dozens of people in a crackdown on what it says is a Southeast Asian "terror" network, Jemaah Islamiah, have been pressing Indonesia to arrest Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir they describe as a pivotal player in the group.

At a news conference on Sunday, Bashir blamed the United States for the attacks.

"It would be impossible for Indonesians to do it," he said. "Indonesians don't have such powerful explosives."

"I think maybe the US are behind the bombings because they always say Indonesia is part of a terrorist network."

- REUTERS

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Feature: Bali bomb blast

Pictures from the scene of the blast

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