Biological attack likely connected to Corby case

Biological attack likely connected to Corby case

Ivy Susanti
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Indonesian government condemned on Wednesday the intimidation
of its embassy staff in Canberra, calling it a cowardly act,
after the embassy received an envelope with white powder --
believed to be anthrax.

Most officials have not ruled out a link to the verdict by a
court in Bali, which sentenced last Friday a young Australian
woman to 20 years in prison for alleged cannabis smuggling.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Marty Natalegawa said his
country would not be intimidated by such tactics and would try to
open the embassy again after the 52 staff members complete a 2-
day quarantine period.

"It's a sorry, cowardly attempt at intimidation, which is to
be condemned. It runs contrary to the close relations the
Indonesian and Australian governments have enjoyed," Marty said
in a phone interview.

"We are in close cooperation with the Australian authorities
to address this issue. Indonesia will not succumb to such
intimidation and we'll strive to ensure the continuation of the
various services provided by the embassy," he added.

Marty said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda,
currently accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during
a visit to Japan, had called for all Indonesian citizens in
Australia to increase their vigilance.

"He (Hassan) has instructed the Indonesian embassy in Canberra
to advise Indonesian nationals and other consular offices to
raise their level of alertness," he said.

Australian federal police sealed off the Indonesian Embassy in
Canberra on Wednesday after a "biological agent" was found in a
package sent to the building.

The federal police said the envelope was delivered to the
embassy around 10:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. in Jakarta) through the
normal mail service and was identified as suspicious by embassy
staff. Ambassador Imron Cotan was not inside the building at the
time.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday that
the powder, sent in an envelope addressed to Cotan, and which was
spilled on to the floor inside the embassy, was apparently in
retaliation for the sentencing of Australian Schapelle Leigh
Corby.

Howard said that the powder was a type of bacillus bacteria,
the same family that contains the anthrax bacteria.

"It's not an innocent white powder. It's some type of
biological agent. I'm not a scientist, but they say it belongs to
the bacillus group and is being tested. I can't tell you any more
than that," Howard told Channel Nine television on Wednesday.

The bacillus group contains various forms of bacteria, one of
which can cause anthrax, which killed five people in the United
States in late 2001, after it was found in letters to media and
government offices in Washington, Florida and elsewhere.

"It would be the first time, if the preliminary results are
confirmed, such a biological agent has been sent in Australia,"
Howard added.

He said it would be a "remarkable coincidence" if the incident
at the embassy was not related to the Corby case. "It will do
great damage in the eyes of many Indonesian people to the
relationship between our countries and it certainly won't help
Schapelle Corby."

He apologized on behalf of the Australian people to the
Indonesian embassy staff and government. "It's an act of reckless
indifference to human life and I apologize on behalf of the
Australian people to the Indonesian embassy and to the Indonesian
government."

Corby's conviction sparked an emotional backlash in Australia,
with the Indonesian embassy receiving threatening telephone calls
and many Australians calling for a Bali boycott and a return of
their tsunami aid donations.

Corby says she is innocent and that the drugs found in her
bodyboard bag by a Bali customs officer were planted there by
someone else. Newspaper polls show 90 percent of Australians
believe Corby is innocent.

Many Australians believe Corby was not given a fair trial and
her lawyers on Wednesday formally launched an appeal against the
verdict.

In April, bullets were sent to the Indonesian consulate in the
west Australian city of Perth along with a letter containing a
warning that staff would be killed unless Corby was freed.

Prominent Corby backers distanced themselves from the attack.
"I am a little bit disgusted, I can't believe people will go to
those lengths to support somebody," Corby's close friend Jodie
Power told ABC radio.

"I think it's very un-Australian. It's one thing to boycott
Bali but it's another thing to do something like that and put
people's lives at risk."