US, Britain knew Bali risk weeks ago

The United States and Britain have admitted they knew Bali was a possible terrorist target weeks before last Sunday's bombings, yet an upgraded travel notice late last month told New Zealanders that Bali was safe.

Australia's spy agencies had no prior intelligence about last weekend's bombing in Bali, Prime Minister John Howard said after touring the bomb site in Kuta yesterday.

He said his statement was supported by the US State Department as well as the British and New Zealand Governments.

But Downing St officials, who had earlier spoken of "no specific threat picked up in relation to Bali that weekend", told the Guardian newspaper yesterday that a number of specific target areas had been identified, including six places in Indonesia, one of them Bali.

Also yesterday, the Washington Post quoted Government sources as saying that late last month US intelligence officials learned of a communication from leaders of the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah directing followers to attack Western targets, including tourist sites such as Bali.

On September 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Wellington warned travellers not to go to Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, and the Poso area of Central Sulawesi.

It also specifically said that tourist services were normal in other areas, including Bali and neighbouring Lombok.

Foreign Minister Phil Goff said last night that officials had not found any specific references to Bali in the information given to New Zealand authorities and he repeated his comments that the US State Department told New Zealand officials two days ago they had not had specific information Bali was likely to be targeted.

"As a matter of common sense it does not appear to me that this was a case of incompetence ... I've looked at some of the stuff we've had, including an FBI intelligence briefing.

"It issues a generic warning that there may be an upsurge in terrorist attacks but it isn't specific at all about where, when or against whom," he said.

That briefing was issued more than a week ago.

"Anything the US intelligence agencies have that touched on our nationals would have been made available," Mr Goff said.

None of the other 20 countries who lost citizens in the Bali attack had warned their citizens of possible terrorist activity at the holiday destination, he added.

Mr Goff said he was sure his officials were correct when they said there was nothing received in New Zealand that mentioned the word Bali in relation to possible terrorist attacks. about the US and British admissions as this edition went to press last night.

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Mr Howard faced tough questions from relatives of the dead and missing after his Kuta walkabout.

"Mr Howard, my name is Andrew Taylor, I am not a journalist," said one man, from Adelaide, hands shaking as he spoke.

"My niece lies in the morgue. We have had very little help from the Government. Honestly, there's very little back-up here."

Mr Taylor said he had hit a brick wall and demanded to know when his niece, Angela Golotta, would be coming home and why her remains had not been repatriated when he had dental records to prove who she was.

Angela's birthday on Thursday, and she would have turned 20.

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"My son is missing. He's six-foot four, he's got an expensive watch, orange, he's got capped teeth, an arm reconstructed, his appendix missing.

"Is it going to take six weeks to find him? How long before my wife and my family can bring him home?"nte

Forensic teams from Australia and several other countries are helping to speed the process and Mr Howard said they had been working around the clock but could say little else to give Mr Taylor solace.

"Sir, I would love to be able to give you a precise time. I can't. I hope it doesn't take six weeks," said Mr Howard, clearly feeling unable to provide much comfort.

Meanwhile, firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir collapsed last night and was rushed to hospital as he was due to be quizzed by police about terrorism-related crimes.

"He became weak during a press conference and later fainted and had to be rushed to a hospital," said one of his lawyers, Ahmad Khalid.

It was not clear yesterday whether Bashir, the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been linked to al Qaeda, would be charged with the Bali bombings and a series of church bombings almost two years ago that killed 19 people and injured about 50 others.

A police spokesman said Bashir had been called in because al Qaeda operative Omar al-Faruq had named the cleric as the organiser of the church bombings in a confession to the CIA last month.

Bashir denies any knowledge of Jemaah Islamiyah.

Bali messages and latest information on New Zealanders
New Zealand travellers in Bali, and their families around the world, can exchange news via our Bali Messages page. The page also contains lists of New Zealanders in Bali and their condition.

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Feature: Bali bomb blast

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