Bali blast 'strategic failure' by terrorists

Bali blast 'strategic failure' by terrorists

Agencies, Singapore

International terrorists have suffered strategic losses by
launching attacks on Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim
nations, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said here
on Saturday at the Asia Security Conference.

Wolfowitz told the meeting of Asia Pacific defense ministers
the struggle against terrorism would be a "long hard fight" as
several groups remained dispersed worldwide, AFP reported.

But he said that last October's massive bomb attacks in Bali
and the May 13 blasts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were a blow to the
terrorists because they had galvanized these states to act more
resolutely against the problem.

"While the terrorists may regard their attacks as a tactical
success, I believe they were a strategic failure," Wolfowitz
said.

The Bali blasts brought home the message in Indonesia, the
world's most populous Muslim nation, and the rest of Southeast
Asia, to take tougher action against terrorism after initially
being reluctant to confront the problem, he said.

"It is a strategic failure because it was a wake-up call for
Indonesia. It has led to a much greater cooperation within
Indonesia in counter-terrorism," he told reporters after his
speech to the conference delegates.

The attacks also led to a recognition by the Indonesian people
that "terrorists are targeting them and their country and their
hopes for democracy and not just targeting the Americans and
Australians".

Meanwhile, the Philippines said on the sidelines of the
conference it was investigating reports of terrorist training
camps in the south of the country but believes they are small
"mobile bases" limited to teaching in the use of explosives.

The New York Times reported the southern Philippines had
become the training center for the Jemaah Islamiah network,
believed by many western governments to be affiliated to Osama
bin Laden.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes told Reuters on the sidelines
of that Indonesians arrested for bomb plots in Manila had
admitted to having trained in the camps of the separatist Moro
Islamic Liberation Front.

Asked if such training still exists, Reyes said: "We are
trying to validate that, but we have made arrests in the past and
so we are continuing to track them."

Reyes said that there were no longer any major MILF camps. He
did not mention Jemaah Islamiah, which has been accused of
various terror plots in Southeast Asia.

"There are no more camps. At best, there are mobile bases. I
don't think they have any really sophisticated or prolonged
training going on. At worst, what we would have would be training
in the use of explosives," the minister said.

The MILF enclave is southern Mindanao island, home to about
eight million Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

Also at the conference, Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru
Ishiba said that reports communist North Korea may have
reprocessed nuclear material were "extremely regrettable and
absolutely unacceptable".

"I am afraid that further escalation of the situation by North
Korea would require tougher measures," Ishiba said, without
giving details.

In a speech to an Asian security conference sponsored by the
International Institute for Strategic Studies, Ishiba said a
peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis required dialog and
pressure.

"The U.S. position that all options should be on the table is
an understandable one," he said.

Japanese officials have repeatedly said Japan lacks the
capability to defend itself from North Korea, which tested a
ballistic missile over Japan in August 1998.