Not only terror

Just to freshen our memories, the bomb blasts in Medan resemble the one at Istiqlal Mosque (in Jakarta) in April last year. Subsequently, the cathedral in Jakarta, state television station TVRI and several other offices in Jakarta also received bomb threats. Then, a bomb was found under the pedestrian bridge in front of Bank Indonesia on Jl. Thamrin. Until now, the perpetrators have not been found. Only the Istiqlal bomber has been tried, but the identity of the actual brains behind the operation has not been revealed.

We do not know whether or not the two cases are linked. It is the duty of the police to find the church bombers in Medan. From the authorities' comments, however, it can be concluded that this was the work of trained professionals. Furthermore, considering that the targets chosen were churches when a congregation was present, he or she must be used to the sight of blood. The objective was not merely to sow terror, but to destroy.

We do not want to see a repeat of the Istiqlal case, where the authorities only managed to arrest the executor but failed to uncover the intellectual actor. Plain common sense tells us that the bombing in Medan was part of a well-planned, systematic and organized design. What we do not know is whether it was designed to improve the bargaining position of certain parties in a number of cases that are currently public issues, or whether it was a diversionary tactic to draw the public's attention away from those issues.

-- Republika, Jakarta