Indonesia: Wahid – Poor Security is to Blame - 14 October, 2002

The Jakarta Post newspaper reports that former president Abdurrahman Wahid said is Surabaya Sunday that the bomb blast that claimed many lives in Kuta, Bali, late on Saturday happened due to lack of preparedness by security personnel.

"This case indicates two things: our security was not properly prepared and there has been a political shock at the level of the political elite," Abdurrahman said in an interview with Radio Suara Surabaya, as quoted by Antara, clarifying the latter point as a "conflict between political parties in the legislature and between the legislative and executive bodies."

He refused to say if the incident would become the means to question the ability of the national leadership, but he urged the government to condemn the bombing. "Hamzah Haz (the Vice President) should not merely express his concern, he should also condemn the incident outright," he said.

However, he agreed with Hamzah's statement that the bombing occurred due to weak intelligence, saying that the agency was in a poor state, like a cancer in its final stages.

Henry Marconi
PRAVDA.Ru
Sydney