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Saturday, October 01, 2005

Bali Bombings


According to an AP report on CNN.com, two bombs in tourist-destination Bali have killed or injured dozens of people, and threaten to depress the area's economy again.

Bali's economy had just begun to rebound from the terrorist attacks on the island in 2002. Suspicion for the explosions immediately fell on the al Qaeda linked regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, also blamed for the 2002 blasts.
Several other governments, including the United States, had warned about a high terrorist threat to foreigners in Indonesia ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next week.

A report issued in early September warned that Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, may be planning a series of attacks in October, dubbed "The Great Ramadan Offensive."

On Friday the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta reiterated its warning of last May that the threat of terrorism is high and Americans there should be vigilant.

The blasts at Jimbaran beach and a bustling outdoor shopping center in downtown Kuta "were clearly the work of terrorists," police Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian anti-terrorism official, told The Associated Press.

Bali is a Hindu enclave in predominently-Muslim Indonesia.



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