A small package bomb has exploded outside the Indonesian embassy in Paris
before dawn, slightly injuring 10 people and shattering nearby windows.
The bomb, placed on the pavement next to the thick outside walls of the
elegant 19th century building, caused only minor damage to the embassy when it
went off shortly after 4 a.m. British time on Friday. Windows in nearby cars and
houses were shattered.
Police
investigators stand at the scene of a bomb blast outside the Indonesian
embassy in Paris, early October 8, 2004. Ten people were slightly injured
by flying glass after a package, left outside the embassy, exploded,
shattering surrounding windows. [Reuters]
|
Nine of the 10 injured were taken to hospital,
most apparently with slight cuts from flying glass. Some of the injured were
embassy personnel, firemen said.
French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, who rushed to the scene in
the wealthy district of western Paris, said Paris had no indications of any
threat against the embassy.
An investigator at the scene of a bomb blast
outside the Indonesian embassy in Paris, early October 8, 2004.
[Reuters] |
"This is clearly an act with
criminal intentions," he said. "As far as we know, there was no specific threat
... Our investigation will help to verify some points. We obviously have to wait
a bit before coming to any conclusions."
In Jakarta, Indonesian president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the
blast as an act of terrorism.
"I strongly condemn the terrorist act done at the Indonesian embassy in
Paris. I do hope the government of France will take appropriate action to bring
the perpetrator to justice," he told reporters.
A man living across the street from the embassy said the blast woke him up.
"We heard a big boom around 5 a.m.," he told reporters. "There was lots of glass
on the ground, but no dead, and that's the important thing," he said.
TENSION DUE TO OTHER ATTACKS
The blast came ahead of next week's second anniversary of the nightclub
bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed 202 people.
It also occured shortly after attacks late on Thursday on Egyptian Red Sea
resorts crowded with Israeli tourists. The blasts killed at least 20 people in
attacks that Israeli officials said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda.
French President Jacques Chirac, on a visit to Hanoi, reassured Jakarta of
France's support following the blast.
"All means will be deployed to shed light on this criminal act," he told the
Indonesian representative at an Asia-Europe meeting in the Vietnamese capital.
A police spokesman described the bomb as being of medium strength, adding:
"It is still too early to determine the nature of the explosive."
Windows in nearby buildings and cars parked in the narrow street were
shattered by the blast. Glass shards covered the street as police detectives
scoured the area for clues.
As a sign of the heightened concern in Indonesia, Australia recently warned
its citizens against non-essential travel to Indonesia ahead of the October 12
anniversary of the Bali bombings, which killed 88 Australians.
A suicide car bombing outside Australia's embassy in Jakarta on September 9
killed nine Indonesians.
Both the Bali and the embassy bombings were blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, a
Southeast Asian group seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda. Indonesia is the
world's most populous Muslim country, but Islam is not the state's religion and
the majority of the Muslim population are moderates.