JAKARTA, 14 October 2002 - The bombings on Bali followed months of warnings and pleadings for Indonesia to act to prevent terror attacks. Indonesia's neighbors and terrorism experts have frequently voiced exasperation that in a region where Al-Qaida is known to be active -- and Indonesians are suspected of being ringleaders of affiliated networks -- the government in Jakarta has been slow to react.
An Indonesian politician added his voice to the chorus Sunday. "I believe the Indonesian intelligence was warned about this," said Alvin Lie, a member of the moderate National Mandate Party. "I have no information about what they have done. I feel the Indonesian government has been too slow in acting to prevent such incidents."
Security officials in Malaysia have privately called neighboring Indonesia "a black hole" in counterterrorism, where authorities failed to arrest suspects and were unable to find explosives that Al-Qaida is believed to have stockpiled. The United States and Indonesia's neighbors have urged Jakarta for months to pass an antiterrorism law languishing in parliament. Without the law, Indonesia says, security forces cannot arrest suspects without clear evidence they have committed a crime.
In Malaysia and Singapore, police have arrested scores of suspects allegedly involved with a Southeast Asian militant group, Jemaah Islamiyah, that hopes to create an Islamic state in Malaysia, the southern Philippines and Indonesia. Indonesia's neighbors have pressed Jakarta to deal with Abu Bakar Bashir, a radical cleric they say is a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been linked to Al-Qaida. Bashir, who lives freely and has sympathizers in the government, denies being involved with terrorism.
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