RI won's speculate on Paris bomb 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.