Bali bombing takes heavy toll on SE Asia<\/p>\n
Lawrence Bartlett, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
The political and economic fallout from the Bali bombing hangs
\nlike a radioactive cloud over Southeast Asia, poisoning the
\nregion long after the sound of the explosion has died away.<\/p>\n
The immediate victims were the nearly 200 people, mostly young
\nWestern tourists, blown up as they danced on a warm tropical
\nnight on a paradise island renowned for its peace, surf and laid-
\nback style.<\/p>\n
But the bombing is still taking a toll -- on regional economic
\nrecovery, civil liberties, religious tolerance and relations with
\nthe rest of the world.<\/p>\n
The blast came on Oct. 12, exactly one year, one month and one
\nday after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, which
\nthe United States said had changed the world.<\/p>\n
While nobody would make a similar claim for the Bali bombing,
\nit remains the most deadly terrorist attack since those in the
\nU.S., and dragged Southeast Asia irrevocably into the global
\nterrorism war.<\/p>\n
The main suspect in the massacre, the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
\nnetwork of religious militants, has ties to the al-Qaeda
\norganization of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, blamed for the
\nU.S. atrocity.<\/p>\n
A self-confessed bomber under arrest in Indonesia, Amrozi --
\ndubbed \"the grinning assassin\" after his cheerful appearance at a
\npress conference -- told police he wanted to \"kill as many
\nAmericans as possible\" because \"America oppresses the Muslims\".<\/p>\n
Most of those killed in Padi's Bar and the Sari Club were in
\nfact Australians and Britons, but al-Qaeda sees them as
\nlegitimate targets anyway because they are allies of the US.<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says the link
\nbetween local Islamic militants and al-Qaeda grew out of their
\njoint involvement in the war against the Soviet occupation of
\nAfghanistan.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian authorities have arrested more than 70 alleged
\nmilitants, many linked to JI, since mid-2001. All are held under
\nthe Internal Security Act (ISA) which allows for indefinite
\ndetention without trial.<\/p>\n
Acceptance of such draconian legislation is one of the
\ninsidious effects of the fallout from the terrorist bombings.<\/p>\n
Western countries, which previously criticized Malaysia's
\nhuman rights record, now praise the government for its
\ncooperation in the war against terrorism.<\/p>\n
And in Indonesia, where civil liberties were resurgent after
\nthe end of the Soeharto dictatorship in 1998, the Bali blast has
\nled to the introduction of detention without trial for up to six
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
The wider impact, however, has been on the economies of the
\nregion, which were just picking themselves up from the floor
\nafter the devastating financial crisis of 1997-98.<\/p>\n
Tourism is a crucial source of revenue for many countries, and
\nit has taken a body blow.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, tourism employs more than seven million people
\nand last year brought in US$4.7 billion in revenue, or about 10
\npercent of gross national product, with Bali being a prime
\ndestination.<\/p>\n
Bali hotels saw occupancy rates plummet to single digits after
\nthe bombing and they remain at around 36 percent.<\/p>\n
If the tourists fail to return, some 2.7 million people across
\nIndonesia could find themselves out of a job, Tourism Minister I
\nGede Ardika has said.<\/p>\n
But it is not only Indonesia that is suffering the fallout.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) complained at their annual summit in Phnom Penh
\nin November that a bad situation was being made worse by Western
\ngovernments warning their nationals against traveling in the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Those governments responded by saying they were only doing
\ntheir duty to their citizens, driving a wedge between nations
\nwhich all say their primary aim is the elimination of terrorism.<\/p>\n
That wedge was hammered deeper by Australian Prime Minister
\nJohn Howard's warning last month that Canberra felt entitled to
\ntake pre-emptive action against terrorists in neighboring
\ncountries if they threatened Australia.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian nations, which had sympathized with Australia
\nover its losses in Bali, reacted with outrage. Mahathir said any
\nsuch action would be seen as an act of war.<\/p>\n
So, as with the attacks on the U.S., the victims are losing
\nsympathy in response to what is seen as a heavy-handed,
\nindiscriminate reaction in which the powerful nations of the
\nworld are targeting Islam rather than terrorism.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, who has led mainly-Muslim Malaysia for more than two
\ndecades and become something of an international spokesman for
\nmoderate Islam, has warned repeatedly that this perception will
\ngive rise to more terrorism.<\/p>",
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