DATE=9/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA-BOMB (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-266478
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
// NOTE TO EDS: This incorporates elements of short
CR-2-266475, INDONESIA-SUHARTO //
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesian authorities now say 15 people died
in Wednesday's car bomb attack on the Jakarta Stock
Exchange. More than 20 others were injured, some of
them critically. Speculation is rife that the attack
is linked to the trial of former President Suharto,
which resumed Thursday. However, as VOA Southeast
Asia Correspondent Gary Thomas reports, no arrests
have been made in the bombing case.
TEXT: The Jakarta Stock Exchange remained closed
Thursday as rescue workers wrapped up the grim task of
recovering bodies from the lethal car bomb attack.
Fifteen bodies have been pulled from the debris, and
police say they are confident that no more remain to
be found. Most of those killed are believed to have
been chauffeurs who were waiting for their employers
when the bomb went off near the end of the workday.
Investigators are searching the rubble for clues,
hoping for at least some indication about the kind of
explosive device used. It was powerful enough to
destroy or damage some 400 cars and trucks parked in
the Stock Exchange's underground.
The timing of the explosion has led to widespread
speculation that it was linked to the corruption trial
of former President Suharto. The bomb went off one
day before the trial resumed.
President Abdurrahman Wahid told officials Thursday to
vigorously pursue the investigation, no matter where
it might lead.
But so far clues are scarce - and so are suspects.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, and
no one has been arrested.
Since Mr. Suharto's autocratic rule abruptly ended in
1998, Indonesia has plunged into a wave of ethnic and
separatist violence stretching from the far Spice
Islands to the capital itself. The Stock Exchange
explosion was the latest in a series of recent bomb
attacks in Jakarta that have rattled citizens' nerves
and shaken their confidence in the government.
/// OPT /// One bomb exploded outside the Philippines
ambassador's residence, killing one person. Bombs
went off at the attorney-general's office and the
offices of other organizations. On the eve of Mr.
Suharto's trial two weeks ago, an unexploded bomb was
found near the court. /// END OPT ///
Interior Minister Surjadi Sudirja said Thursday there
is what he termed a "weakness" in Indonesia's security
system that needs to be corrected. (signed)
NEB/HK/GPT/JO/PFH
14-Sep-2000 04:18 AM EDT (14-Sep-2000 0818 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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