UN issues resolution on Bali bomb probe
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) strongly condemned on Monday the Bali attacks and urged the international community to work together and help Indonesia see that justice was done and the perpetrators punished swiftly.
Reaffirming the need to combat terrorist in accordance with resolution 1373 (2001) enacted on Sept. 28, 2001 which deals with terrorism, the Council unanimously and swiftly adopted Resolution 1438 which essentially calls for the Indonesian government to allow other countries to come here and investigate the attack as well as "to combat (terror) by all means".
"The Security Council condemns in the strongest terms the bomb attacks in Bali, Indonesia on Oct. 12, 2002 in which so many lives were claimed and people injured," the resolution said.
It also was quite clear that the incident posed a serious threat to international peace and security and cooperation was thus necessary to stop it.
In Jakarta, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the resolution, saying that its adoption was the result of diplomatic efforts to secure the full support from the international community to the government and people of Indonesia in combating terrorism.
"The Indonesian government welcomes the adoption of UN resolution 1438," said an official statement made available on Tuesday.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Tuesday that the vote was unanimous in the Security Council.
The UN also expressed its deepest condolences and sympathy to the government and people of Indonesia, and to the victims of the bomb attacks and their families.
"The Security Council urges all states, in accordance with their obligations under resolution 1373 (2001), to work together urgently and to cooperate with and provide support and assistance, as appropriate, to the Indonesian authorities in their efforts to find and bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and the sponsors of these terrorist attacks," the resolution said.
The four-point resolution was issued in the wake of the Bali bombing on Saturday night which claimed over 180 lives, and injured more than 300, most of whom were international tourists, on the resort island for a relaxing holiday.
Britain's ambassador to the United Nations, Jeremy Greenstock, said the council consulted Indonesia before voting on the possibly sensitive issue.
"The Indonesians are reeling from this, and they did want to hear some expressions of international support," he said as quoted by Agence France-Presse.
Greenstock who heads the council's counter-terrorism committee, set up in late September last year, said: "I don't think the committee can go on doing its work and not take account of an event of this magnitude."
The council was concerned, not just at the lives lost, "but also the effect on the economy of a country that is trying to develop into a mature and prosperous nation," he said.
"This was a bad one, and the people who did it are to be condemned utterly and absolutely for their indiscriminate killing ... we know what the cause was in this particular case," Greenstock added.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said he thought the attack was the second largest terror attack after the New York and Washington catastrophes on Sept. 11 last year.
Marty said on Monday that citizens from around 20 countries had become victims of the bombing.