The Command Post
Global War on Terror
« Apparent Bomb Blast outside Jakarta Marriott | Main | Philippine Moro rebels confirm chairperson's death »
August 05, 2003
Australian, US Diplomats Bomb Victims?

The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio is now reporting that one Indonesian Radio station is saying that many of the victims at the Marriot were diplomats.

The Australian Military Charge D'Affairs is on the scene at the moment.

The Manager of the Marriot is quoted by one reporter as confirming that eyewitnesses have reported the explosion as due to a car bomb going off at the taxi stand outside the main entrance.

The Marriot is often used by Australian diplomats for meetings, and another Indonesian Readio station reports that a US-Australian meeting was in progress at the time of the blast.

From the ABC :

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says there is no information yet on whether any Australians have been hurt or killed in an explosion in Jakarta.

Indonesian police say a blast has torn through the Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital, killing five people and seriously wounding five more.

Mr Downer says embassy officials in Jakarta are seeking more information on the blast.

In the meantime, Mr Downer says Australians should avoid central Jakarta.

"The safety of Australians is our main concern and the Australian consul as well as the defence attache were at the scene within minutes of the blast," he said.

"Our officials are working closely with the hotel management to see what they can find out about whether there are any Australians involved and what caused the explosion."

Mr Downer says if any Australians have concerns about friends or relatives in Jakarta they should first try to contact them directly and if they still have concerns, they can call a new emergency hotline on (+61) 1800 00 22 14.

ABC News Radio netstreaming audio is available via the ABC News Radio page.

Posted by Alan Brain at August 5, 2003 04:24 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Breaking News DEBKA

Australians and New Zealanders, including diplomats, have been murdered. Rumours of American diplomats dead or injured.

Australian PM, John Howard, gives immediate authorisation to Australian SAS 'Black Caps' to assassinate leading JI terrorists, including radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'ashir. President Bush considering request from Donald Rumsfeld for deployment of DELTA team to work with Australian SAS to 'wipe out JI'.

Australian authorities furious at Indonesian government weakness in cracking down on this Al-Qaeda affiliated group. Indonesian government, at first cautious, have backed the move.

----
SOUNDS LIKE SOME SERIOUS ASS IS TO BE KICKED.

Posted by: TedD at August 5, 2003 08:31 AM

These are the people that we need to go after rather than waste troops and $1 trillion in Iraq.

Posted by: US_Muddle at August 5, 2003 08:53 AM

muddle. These people are the same as the gene-pool-stains that we're eliminating in Iraq. Plus by invading Iraq we've created a terrorism sink in Mesopotamia that makes dying for Allah a simple weekend excursion for the Jihadis of the Fertile Crescent.

Our government will soon waste 1T on many things. The cost of going into Iraq is money well spent. Certainly the vast majority of Iraqis think so. Your murky sniping is callously oblivious to their plight.

Posted by: Trouble at August 5, 2003 09:05 AM

TedD: The DEBKA story is 100% Kosher Baloney.
The SASR don't do this type of thing in nations where we have friendly diplomatic relations. It's not our style.

Any JI that have fatal accidents in the next few days will just be unlucky. Nobody will be able to find any evidence whatsoever that Australia had anything to do with it, it will be purely coincidental.

Posted by: Alan E Brain at August 5, 2003 09:25 AM

Darn!

Alan, are you serious? I was hoping that
story was TRUE, so we could blow away
some Demons!

We should exterminate all Islamic militants
everywhere. I thought this was the first
government recognition of that simple,
but self-evident reality!

Posted by: leaddog2 at August 5, 2003 10:32 AM

Alan! Is your tongue somewhere in your cheek? Accidents? If I were JI, I think I'd stay in bed and ashew showers, for fear of gettin' soap-a-roped...

Posted by: Cap'n SPIN at August 5, 2003 10:39 AM

Alan,

I like the tact used in your statement. "Nobody will be able to find any evidence whatsoever that Australia had anything to do with it, it will be purely coincidental". If it is done right, there should be no evidence, just stains where shit piles used to be.

You sly dog, you.

Posted by: Elvis at August 5, 2003 12:11 PM

TED:"Breaking News DEBKA

Australians and New Zealanders, including diplomats, have been murdered. Rumours of American diplomats dead or injured."

Funny thing is, none of the Oz or Kiwi media are reporting this (18hrs after the blast). The hotel is often used by diplomats, so rumours were probably common early on.

Posted by: Errol Cavit at August 5, 2003 06:40 PM

The DEBKA report has one major military flaw as well. The SASR has not now or never will be known as "The Black Caps" for the reason, the reginments trademark beret is in fact a light tan.

Posted by: Expert at January 23, 2004 07:49 AM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (Click here should you choose to sign out.)

As you post your comment, please mind our simple comment policy: we welcome all perspectives, but require that comments be both civil and respectful. We also ask that you avoid the extensive use of profanity, racist terms (neither of which we consider civil or respectful), and other boorish language.

We reserve the right to delete any comment, and to prohibit you from commenting on this site, if we feel you have broached this policy. As a courtesy, we will first send you an email noting a violation so you understand the boundaries. This will occur only once, however, and should we ban you from our comment forums we expect that ban to be permanent.

We also will frown upon those who suggest that we ban other individuals for voicing unpopular opinions, should those opinions be voiced in a civil and respectful manner. The point of our comment threads is to provide a forum for spirited though civil and respectful discourse … it is not to provide a forum in which everyone will agree with your point of view.

If you can live by these rules, welcome aboard. If not, then we’re sorry it didn’t work out, and thanks for visiting The Command Post.


Remember me?