Another ‘Bomb’ at the Philippines, the Fear of Terror in the South East Asia

Explosion incidents, which are assumed to be terrors, keep happening in the Philippines following Indonesia, the fear of the additional terror is spreading to the South East Asia. There are even worries that the South East Asia might be the new ‘hot bed.’

▽ Additional terror was happened in the Philippines=The Philippine Police announced that one day after 150 killed and injured due to simultaneous explosions happened in the downtown Samboanga in the southern Philippines, one bomb was exploded in financial district near Manila and destroyed a van and one grenade was found near the spot of the explosion.

The was no casualty and it was not found whether it was related to the incident happened yesterday, but the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs looked this not as a simple domestic problem but act of an international terrorists` organization.

A high ranking official of the Philippine Army said on the 17th that the explosion incident in Samboanga was related to the one happened at an night club in Bali, Indonesia. He insisted that the radical Islam group, Jema Islamia, which was suspected to be the wirepuller of the explosion at Bali Island, did this incident.

The JI, which has the Headquarters in Indonesia, is predicted to do terror in the South East Asia as a part of Al Qaida of Osama bin Laden, who was known as the wire-puller of the 9.11 terror.

▽ Investigation of the terror in Bali, Indonesia=The Indonesian Police announced on the 17th that they were investigating a group of 8 suspects including 7 Indonesian and one foreigner from Middle East in relation to the explosion terror incident happened in Bali on the 12th.

The Indonesian Police explained that after examining the person in charge of Al Qaida in the South East Asia, Omar Al Paruk, who was being examined at the US Air Force Base at Vagram in Afghanistan, they got various of information about suspects related to the Bali terror, and decided to summon them. The Police said the leader of the JI, Abu Bakar Bashir would be included in the subject to be summoned. Bashir was known to be arrested as early as the 18th with charges of bomb terror and rebellion.

However, Bashir criticized America saying that the bomb terror in Bali was a plot of America through an interview with the BBC.

▽ Provision of Western Countries against the additional terror=Following America, which decided to withdraw employees of the US Embassy in Indonesia after the Bali bomb terror, the UK and Australia is planning to withdraw most of employees from Indonesia exclude core staff. The Foreign Ministries of Germany and Denmark also advised their people resided in Indonesia to return.

In the meantime, the Head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), George Tennet said on the 17th, “This situation is as dangerous as the summer before the 9.11 terror,” and said that the recent terror attacks happened in Kuwait and Indonesia suggested that Al Qaida was ready to attack the American people one more time in America.

The British Prime Minister Toni Blair also warned the Cabinet Members that terror attacks like the bomb terror in Bali, Indonesia might be happened additionally.

Hye-Yoon Park parkhyey@donga.com