Speedy action fails to calm fears

Speedy action fails to calm fears

Dewi Kurniawati, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/Bali

As Indonesian authorities continued an intense manhunt for the masterminds behind the weekend suicide bombings on Bali, fears persisted about a future attack on the island.

Unlike the bombings of 2002, many tourists this time around have refused to flee Bali so far, but warnings from foreign embassies and anonymous text messages about a pending attack that are circulating the island by mobile phone have left expatriates and locals on edge.

"Do I feel safe?" Mike Krueger asked. "I don't know. I see no police around guarding us."

Some said the initial investigation by Indonesian police after Saturday's attack, which killed 22 people and injured more than 130, has been faster than after the bombings in October 2002, which claimed 202 lives.

Within 48 hours, Indonesian authorities concluded that the bombing was carried out by three suicide bombers and released an amateur video taken by a family on vacation showing one of the bombers walking into one of the targets, a restaurant in Kuta.

"I think the Indonesian police have done a pretty quick job on the investigation," political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said. "I believe the Indonesian police in Bali have gained more knowledge in dealing with terror attacks after the first bomb."

But some tourists and locals remained unconvinced that the swift reaction from police was a sign that they could ensure their safety against future attacks.

An Indonesian journalist was rudely told to open his backpack by a foreign tourist one evening this week when he was about to have dinner in a restaurant in Seminyak, a popular tourist area near Kuta that the Australian embassy warned could be the target of the next attack.

The incident resulted in name calling and an argument between Indonesian friends of the journalist and the Australian tourist. Another male journalist with a backpack was also harassed in Kuta by a foreign tourist who said, "All Indonesians should just leave the Island."

"They must be afraid," Rami Kadri a Canadian tourist, told dpa while sipping a beer in an open cafe near Legian Beach. "It's a normal reaction from people. I can understand that."

Security analysts compared the latest Bali bombers with the July 7 bombers in London, who also traveled on foot and used small backpacks, as evidence that suicide bombers were moving away from the use of vehicles to methods that were more difficult to detect.

The latest bombings in Bali, in which two cafes on Jimbaran beach were also hit, also exposed the vulnerability of restaurants and other open establishments to such attacks.

"I am worried about my customers' safety," Ian, a Balinese manager at the German-owned Tekor Bali Cafe in the Legian Beach area, said. "We are extra-careful now after the blast. We are doing our best to protect our customers."

"If I see a suspicious individual, I will ask them questions first before I let them in," he said.

But while a number of wary expats and tourists on the island were staying out of restaurants, others were still refusing to let even the threat of another bombing ruin their party moods.

"We might have a totally different backgrounds," Claudia Granberg, a tourist who grew up in Nicaragua, surmised while watching the sunset in a Legian cafe. "I grew up seeing a lot in my life - revolutions, floods, quakes - one after the other, so I am not so worried being here or feeling even paranoid."