Published on October 03, 2005

The Thai government yesterday joined the international community in expressing condolences to victims of the bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali and condemning this latest act of terror.

Authorities on the resort island of Phuket yesterday beefed up security for the vegetarian festival which begins today.

In his message to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said “I am deeply shocked and outraged by the terrorist bombings in Bali yesterday, which claimed so many innocent lives and injured hundreds.”

The prime minister strongly condemned the acts of terrorism, branding them as “inhumane”. “As a close neighbour and a fellow member of Asean, Thailand reaffirms its solidarity with Indonesia in our common goal to combat terrorism,” he added.

Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon also sent a message to his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Virajuda and offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

Police Col Paven Phongsirin, Phuket’s provincial police chief, yesterday issued instructions for tighter security at many sensitive locations of the resort island. Police boosted security at harbours, oil reserves and a number of other public places.

Phuket will hold its annual vegetarian food festival between October 3 and 11 and the event is expected to attract large numbers of people, police said.

World leaders condemned the wave of attacks by suspected suicide bombers on Bali that left at least 26 people dead and pledged to support Indonesia in its fight against terrorism.

The blasts tore through two beachfront seafood restaurants and a pedestrian neighbourhood on the island on Saturday evening. Officials said tourists from Britain, the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea were among the dead or the scores of injured.

Messages of condemnation and support flooded in from across the world, including Britain, the United States, France, Japan and Australia, which lost 88 people in the 2002 blasts and at least two this time.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the bombers were trying to undermine Indonesian President Susilo, who represents “a threat to Islamic extremism”.

Indonesia’s top anti-terrorism official Ansyaad Mbai said the attacks bore the hallmark of Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda-linked organisation that carried out the October 12, 2002 Bali blasts that killed 202 people.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was dismayed that the island had once again become a target of indiscriminate violence. “The secretary-general strongly condemns today’s bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali,” he said in a statement.

The Nation, AFP

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