World leaders call for swift justice

WORLD leaders offered support to Indonesia yesterday and called for swift justice.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, angered by the death of three people from his country and the wounding of more than a dozen other Australians, called the blasts an attack on democracy and pledged assistance alongside Singapore and other neighbours.

Comments showed world leaders assumed it was the work of a militant Islamic group.

“There’s nothing the terrorists want more than to destabilise Indonesia and what Indonesia represents as a moderate Islamic country and bulwark against the perverted, obscene version of Islam which is represented by these terrorist attacks,” Mr Howard said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose country has provided assistance to Indonesia in its fight against Muslim guerrillas, issued a statement saying: “We will continue to work together in our common fight against terror.”

Security experts said the strikes bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiah, a network seen as the regional arm of al-Qaida and blamed by Indonesia for a number of attacks including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “The latest blasts are yet another cruel testimony to the fact that international terrorism is a threat to all the international community, which should show zero tolerance to it and undertake every step to uproot it,” he said.

The US embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta warned Americans that they and their interests could be targets of attacks throughout Indonesia.

Spain, Germany and the EU offered support to Indonesia, condemned the bombings and called for international resolve in the face of terrorism.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country is the current EU president, expressed solidarity and offered full support to the Indonesian security forces. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain would “help in any way we can”.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Indonesian authorities to act promptly in identifying and bringing the perpetrators to justice, a spokesman said.

Howard said C-130 military transport planes would be sent to Bali to help evacuate Australians and any others who needed assistance.