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Indonesia-France-blast
RI refuses to speculate on Paris blast
JP/1/PARIS

RI refuses to speculate on Paris blast

Ivy Susanti
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The government refused on Friday to speculate on who might have
been behind the explosion outside its embassy in Paris, nor would
it verify whether Indonesia was the intended target.

Indonesian counter-terrorism detectives, led by veteran
investigator Brig. Gen. Gorries Mere, will fly to Paris on
Saturday to work with French police probing the bombing, an
official said later on Friday.

A small explosive device planted outside the embassy at 47-49
Cortambert Street in Paris' Passy neighborhood exploded early
Friday morning. The blast in the area which houses a number of
embassies slightly injured 10 people including three embassy
workers, a news agency reported.

Foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said in Jakarta
that the government would wait until the French police concluded
their investigation into the motive behind the attack.

"We have not received any information regarding the
perpetrators of the explosion nor the specific target. The
Indonesian government does not assume this was directed against
the country or our embassy."

"The fact that the explosion took place in front of the
Indonesian embassy is, and of itself, a source of great concern.
The bomb that exploded in the heart of Paris serves as a reminder
that no place can have immunity from an act of this kind."

Marty said the three embassy-related victims -- the wife and
children of a security officer, Alex Paliamana -- did not suffer
serious injuries, though their hearing was slightly impaired by
the sound of the explosion.

He said the ministry had not received any warnings prior to
the blast. He also added that the Paris embassy continued
operating as usual.

Ansyaad Mbai, the head of the counter-terrorism desk at the
office of the coordinating minister of security and political
affairs, was quoted by AFP as saying that acting security
minister Hari Sabarno agreed to send the detectives after meeting
with Brig. Gen. Pranowo, who heads the police counter-terrorist
squad trained and equipped by the United States.

Gorries headed a police task force that played a major role in
bringing those behind the 2002 bombings in Bali to justice.

In Paris, French police were on Friday investigating a
possible terrorist connection, AFP reported.

The anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor's office
took charge of the judicial enquiry, amid suspicions it could
have been carried out by extremists.

After a meeting of intelligence chiefs chaired by Interior
Minister Dominique de Villepin, the ministry announced that
security was to be stepped up at diplomatic missions, while
Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said the attack "reinforces our
determination ... to continue our fight against terrorism."

However, for want of firm evidence the authorities continued
to class the attack as "criminal" rather than "terrorist," and
officials said other theories including a settling of accounts
inside the embassy were also being looked into.

In Jakarta, President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned
Friday's blast. "I'm saddened by and condemn the act of violence
against our embassy in France," Susilo was quoted as saying by
AFP. "We call on the French government to uphold the law and
provide further protection for our citizens in France."

The ministry, Marty said, "has asked all Indonesian embassies
abroad to stay alert, although we are not certain that our
embassy was targeted."

He said the device was planted near a ventilator to the
basement of one of the embassy's two buildings at the corner of
the street. The blast left a small crater some 50 centimeters
wide by 20 centimeters deep and blew in the windows of the four-
story building.

French President Jacques Chirac, speaking from Hanoi on the
sidelines of the Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM), reassured Jakarta of
that country's support.

"All means will be deployed to shed light on this criminal
act," he told Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun
Kuntjoro-Jakti, who is also representing Indonesia at ASEM.