Australian offers US$1.1m reward to catch Bali bombers

Australian offers US$1.1m reward to catch Bali bombers

Agencies, Canberra

The Australian government on Wednesday offered a reward of up to
two million dollars (US$1.1 million) to catch the terrorists
responsible for killing dozens of the country's citizens in the
Bali bombing.

Attorney-General Daryl Williams said the reward was designed
to encourage people to come forward with information leading to
the successful prosecution of those responsible for the attack.

Williams said investigating authorities were currently focused
on identifying victims and collecting and collating a vast
quantity of information direct from the crime scene and from
witnesses.

He said details of the reward would be discussed with
Indonesian authorities.

At least 30 Australians have been officially confirmed dead in
the weekend blast and 140 are missing, with the death toll
expected to rise significantly.

Separately, Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday he
was confident the United Nations would support Australia's call
to list a militant Southeast Asian Islamic group, suspected of
masterminding the Bali bombings, as a terrorist organization.

Australia says it has mounting evidence that al-Qaeda and its
alleged Southeast Asia-based affiliate, Jamaah Islamiyah (JI),
played a role in the massive bomb attack that devastated a
nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali on last Saturday,
killing more than 180 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Howard said his government has asked the United Nations to
recognize Jemaah Islamiyah as a terrorist organization. A number
of other countries have indicated they would support the
proposal, he said.

"I will be staggered if the United Nations refuses to list
this (group) as a terrorist organization," Howard told Brisbane
radio station 4BC on Wednesday.

Recognizing Jamaah Islamiyah as a terrorist organization would
allow Australia and other countries with similar laws to pursue
supporters or financial backers of the group, including seizing
assets and freezing bank accounts.

Jamaah Islamiyah is believed to have a network throughout
Southeast Asia that seeks to establish a pan-Islamic state in the
region. Malaysia and Singapore have jailed scores of suspected
members accused of plotting to bomb the U.S. Embassy and other
Western targets in Singapore. The group is also accused of
carrying out bombings in the Philippines.

Just a four-hour flight from some Australian cities, Bali is
one of the most popular overseas travel destinations for
Australians. Of the foreigners killed in the bomb attack,
Australians are expected to account for the highest death toll.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that U.S.
intelligence officials intercepted communications in late
September signaling a strike on a Western tourist site. Bali was
mentioned in the intelligence report, the U.S. newspaper said.

Security analysts said the report would have been passed to
Australia by U.S. agencies through close intelligence-sharing
ties.

Opposition Labor leader Simon Crean asked Howard in Parliament
on Wednesday if the government received the report and why it did
not act on it. Senator Bob Brown of the left-wing Greens party
has called for a Senate inquiry.

Howard denied there had been specific warnings that Bali could
be targeted.

"The intelligence available to the government highlighted the
general threat environment (in Indonesia), but at no time was
specific about Saturday night's attack in Bali," Howard told
Parliament.

Opposition parties want Howard to answer why the U.S. Embassy
in Jakarta warned its citizens to stay away from bars and tourist
areas in Indonesia, but Canberra's last travel advice in
September did not, and even said tourism services on Bali were
"operating normally."

Howard said he would ask the Inspector-General of Security, an
independent watchdog with powers to investigate Australia's
intelligence groups, to report to him on the accusations.