Govt not doing enough to fight terror<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
An analyst and legislator blamed the government on Tuesday for
\nthe deadly blast in front of the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel,
\nwhich killed at least 13 people and injured 149 others, saying
\nthat it had not taken sufficient preemptive measures to counter
\nthe threat of terrorism.<\/p>\n
Hermawan Sulistyo, an expert on terrorism from the Indonesian
\nInstitute of Sciences (LIPI), said that despite the enactment of
\nthe antiterrorism law, the government lacked initiative in taking
\nconcrete measures.<\/p>\n
Following the deadly Bali bombings in October 2002, the
\ngovernment issued antiterrorism regulations that were later
\nenacted into law.<\/p>\n
Hermawan said the government had not made concerted efforts to
\ndeal with the terror threat.<\/p>\n
\"As far as the counterterrorism task force under the National
\nPolice is concerned, I don't see that the government has provided
\nenough resources for it,\" Hermawan told The Jakarta Post on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
He said the antiterrorism team set up by the police was short
\non funding and skilled personnel.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the antiterrorism desk at the Office of the
\nCoordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, and the
\nantiterrorism law would not be able to help much in the fight
\nagainst terrorism, he said.<\/p>\n
Hermawan added, however, that even with the existence of a
\nprofessional antiterror team, the terrorist threat would still
\nloom large until the government uprooted the real causes of
\nterrorism.<\/p>\n
\"The government must in the first place deal with the problems
\nof religious fanaticism, acute economic inequalities and
\nhostility to the American presence here,\" Hermawan said.<\/p>\n
Legislator Ibrahim Ambong, meanwhile, said the National Police
\nwere powerless to prevent terrorist attacks in the country.<\/p>\n
\"They don't have enough personnel to confront the terrorist
\nthreat,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
The car bomb that exploded and ripped through the front of the
\nJW Marriot hotel in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, is the latest
\nterrorist outrage to hit Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The blast comes just weeks after police in Central Java
\ndiscovered thousands of rounds of live ammunition and arrested
\nseveral members of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terrorist
\nnetwork blamed for the Bali bombings. There were also unconfirmed
\nreports that large quantities of explosives were being
\ntransported to Jakarta by terrorists.<\/p>\n
Police have arrested over 30 alleged JI members for their
\nroles in terrorism, and some of these are currently standing
\ntrial at the Denpasar District Court. The verdict against one of
\nthe key suspects in the Bali bombings, Amrozi, is due on
\nThursday. He may face the death sentence if found guilty.<\/p>\n
The trial of the alleged spiritual leader of JI, cleric Abu
\nBakar Ba'ashir, is also underway.<\/p>\n
Last month, Indonesian JI member and expert bombmaker, Fathur
\nRohman al-Ghozi, escaped from jail in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
A number of blasts have rocked the capital over the past year.
\nThe first came on Feb. 3 at a public assembly hall at National
\nPolice Headquarters in south Jakarta. No one was injured.<\/p>\n
The second blast caused slight damage near the UN mission in
\nCentral Jakarta on April 25. Again there were no casualties.<\/p>\n
Three days later another bomb exploded in a restaurant at
\nJakarta's Sukarno-Hatta international airport, injuring two
\npeople.<\/p>\n
A low explosive device damaged part of the national
\nlegislative building early on July 14, but once again there were
\nno casualties. The legislature was on recess ahead of the Annual
\nSession of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which began
\nlast Friday.<\/p>\n
The capital has been rocked by at least 21 bomb blasts since
\nJanuary 1998, which have killed 21 people and injuring some 250
\nothers.<\/p>\n
The most serious attack -- until Monday's hotel explosion --
\nclaimed 10 lives and injured 90 others when a bomb exploded in an
\nunderground parking lot of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building on
\nSeptember 13, 2000.<\/p>",
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