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Australia posts reward Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021016/ap_wo_en_po/australia_un_terrorist_group_5http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021016/ap_wo_en_po/australia_un_terrorist_group_5
AP World Politics
Australia posts reward for Bali bombers; denies it failed to act on U.S. warning
Wed Oct 16, 6:42 AM ET
By PETER O'CONNOR, Associated Press Writer
CANBERRA, Australia - Australia posted a A$2 million (US$1.08 million) reward in its hunt for those responsible for the Bali nightclub bombing and Prime Minister John Howard denied claims that he failed to act on a U.S. intelligence report last month that warned of terrorist threats to tourist spots in Asia.
Howard also said he was confident the United Nations (news - web sites) would support his call to declare the militant Southeast Asian Islamic group — Jemaah Islamiyah — a terrorist organization.
Australia says it has mounting evidence that al-Qaida through Jemaah Islamiyah played a role in the massive bomb attack that killed more than 180 people, most of them Australians.
"I will be staggered if the United Nations refuses to list this (group) as a terrorist organization," Howard told Brisbane radio station 4BC on Wednesday.
Putting Jemaah Islamiyah on the international terrorism list would allow Australia and other like-minded countries to pursue its supporters and financial backers. Assets could be seized and bank accounts frozen, under Australian anti-terror laws.
Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to have a network that seeks to establish a pan-Islamic state across much of Southeast Asia. Malaysia and Singapore have jailed scores of suspected members following accusations that they had plotted to bomb the U.S. Embassy and other Western targets in Singapore. The group is also accused of carrying out bombings in the Philippines.
Just a four-hour flight from some Australian cities, Bali is one of the most popular overseas travel destinations for Australians. Of the foreigners killed in the bomb attack, Australians are expected to account for the highest death toll.
Australian officials say 30 Australians have been confirmed dead, and about 140 remain unaccounted for.
Identifying bodies is proving difficult because of the intensity of the blast and ensuing blaze. Howard pleaded with grieving families on Wednesday to be patient during the time it may take to identify the dead.
"I do fully appreciate, understand and sympathize with the sense of frustration and grief," he said. "The condition of the bodies means that identification is extremely difficult."
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence officials intercepted communications in late September signaling a strike on a Western tourist site. Bali was mentioned in the intelligence report, the U.S. newspaper said.
Security analysts said the report would have been passed to Australia by U.S. agencies through close intelligence-sharing ties.
Opposition Labor leader Simon Crean asked Howard in Parliament on Wednesday if the government received the report and why it did not act on it. Senator Bob Brown of the left-wing Greens party has called for a Senate inquiry.
Howard denied there had been specific warnings that Bali could be targeted.
"The intelligence available to the government highlighted the general threat environment (in Indonesia), but at no time was specific about Saturday night's attack in Bali," Howard told Parliament.
Opposition parties want Howard to answer why the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta warned its citizens to stay away from bars and tourist areas in Indonesia, but Canberra's last travel advice in September did not, and even said tourism services on Bali were "operating normally."
Howard said he would ask the Inspector-General of Security, an independent watchdog with powers to investigate Australia's intelligence groups, to report to him on the accusations.
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