INDONESIA/FILE: Security remains a top priority for authorities in Bali, after the 2002 bombing that killed 202, as the Indonesian tourist hotspot tries to ensure business as usual

Record ID: 357545

  • Title: INDONESIA/FILE: Security remains a top priority for authorities in Bali, after the 2002 bombing that killed 202, as the Indonesian tourist hotspot tries to ensure business as usual
  • Date: 9th October 2012
  • Summary: KUTA BEACH, BALI PROVINCE, INDONESIA (OCTOBER 8, 2012) (REUTERS) TOURISTS ALONG KUTA BEACH VARIOUS OF TOURISTS SUN-BATHING INDONESIAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) GERMAN TOURIST SVEN CLASEN SAYING: "I don't see very much uniform. That's what I like, because then I have a feeling there is not so much uniform needed to control the situation and that is what I like." PE
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVAADR23W34WKXG2K3OGPB08DAGK
  • Story Text: Security is still the top priority for Bali authorities, 10 years after the attack that killed 202 people in the Indonesian tourist island.
    On October 12, 2002, a series of bombs went off in the teeming main Kuta Beach tourist district, which is lined with clubs and bars.
    Many of those dead were foreign tourists, including 88 Australians.
    In 2011, Indonesian data showed that the number of tourists visiting Bali hit 2.7 million, nearly double the amount before the attack.
    Tourists visiting say they don't see as much security around, compared to a couple of years ago.
    "I don't see very much uniform. That's what I like, because then I have a feeling there is not too much uniforms needed to control the situation and that is what I like," German tourist Sven Clasen said.
    However, authorities said security was still key for Bali.
    "We are designing a security system using international standards. I hope we can implement this by next year because security is a must for Bali, this is the key issue for Bali," Nyoman Wardawan, the head of the Tourism Marketing Division in Bali.
    After the bombings, security forces detained nearly 600 militants, most of whom have been jailed. Three main perpetrators of the bombings, Imam Samudra and brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas, were convicted and executed by a firing squad in 2008.
    Several bomb attacks hit Indonesia after the Bali explosions. In 2003, a car bomb exploded at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta and killed 12 people.
    In 2005, three suicide bombers, with explosives in their backpacks, targeted three restaurants in Bali and killed 20 people.
    Jim Della Giacoma, South East Asia Project Director at International Crisis Group, said he doubted there was a direct link between the small militant groups carrying out the later attacks, and Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of regional group Jemaah Islamiah, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings.
    "There is probably a less direct link in terms of command and control between Abu Bakar Bashir, who remains in custody, and this group that is conducting the recent attacks," he said.
    Giacoma added that authorities had been largely successful in clamping down on militants in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
    "Since 2010 Indonesian police have been the greatest target of the terrorist groups. I think that internationally, or even domestically, people are able to accept a certain level of violence, and regard the situation in Indonesia as being stable and manageable," he added.
    Indonesia has since been largely successful in containing militant attacks and there have been no large-scale ones on Western targets since 2009 when suicide bombers blew themselves up in two Jakarta hotels, killing nine people and wounding 53.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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