|
Australia heckled Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20021018/ap_wo_en_po/indonesia_australia_howard_2http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20021018/ap_wo_en_po/indonesia_australia_howard_2
Families heckle Australian premier at press conference on Bali bombing
Fri Oct 18, 1:57 AM ET
By MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press Writer
BALI, Indonesia - Family members of Australians killed or missing in the Bali bombing heckled and shouted at Prime Minister John Howard on Friday, demanding that the Australian government do more to speed up the gruesome process of identifying the dead.
The relatives interrupted a press conference and vented their frustration at the lack of information and help received in the six days since terrorist bombs ripped through the thronging Kuta Beach nightclub district, killing 183 people and injuring more than 300.
"We're getting no information from anyone here! We've run into a brick wall!" shouted Andrew Taylor, who is waiting to bring home the remains of his missing niece, who would have turned 20 on Wednesday.
Taylor later said that the Australian government — whose citizens top the lists of the dead and missing — had provided "very little help" for the friends and family members in Bali to bring their loved ones home.
"This is all a joke," an angry Taylor said. "His visit is too little, too late."
Howard arrived in Bali on Thursday to express condolences to the families and demand that Australian forensics experts and government staff speed the identification and repatriation process.
His government has been under pressure at home over allegations that it had advance warning that a bomb attack was planned in Indonesia but had failed to act. Howard has denied the charges.
At the news conference, Spike Stewart demanded that Howard help him to visit the morgue where the bodies of those killed are being kept, as the families have been denied access to the morgue and morgue photos for several days.
"He's 6-foot-4-inches," Stewart said of his son, Anthony, 29. "He's got an expensive watch. He's got reconstructive surgery on his arm. How long until my wife and I can take him home?"
The daunting job of identifying the dead — many of whom were burned beyond recognition — has been compounded by lack of forensics specialists in Indonesia, misinformation, red tape and indifference, families say.
Howard promised to meet with Taylor and Stewart, but he counseled patience so that mistakes do not occur.
"I would love to give you a precise time," Howard said, looking over to Stewart. "I can't. I hope with the gathering of dental records and DNA that the process can be done as quickly as possible."
Howard met with the families later. Many expressed thanks that he had come and voiced understanding that the identification would take time.
"It's fantastic that he came here," said Steve Hawkins, who lost his son Timothy, 28. "He's a compassionate man. You could see it. It comes from the heart. There's no grandstanding here."
In order for the first body to be taken home, relatives must match it with fingerprints, dental records or DNA. So far, only one body — a British citizen living in Hong Kong — has been sent home, but without a death certificate, causing a customs nightmare.
During the hour-long press conference, Howard refused to discuss the investigation. Howard denied that Australia, the United States or Britain had intelligence information that warned of the blast.
Australia would provide financial assistance — air fares and hotel costs — for relatives of the victims and airlift four seriously injured Indonesians to Australia for medical care, he said.
"I will announce, at the appropriate time, a permanent measure of support ... to Bali, which will serve as a practical but enduring memorial for those who died," Howard said.
|
|
