Terror suspect Noordin Mohammad Top shot by police
Since last night Indonesian news has been reporting that police have possibly shot terror suspect Noordin Mohammad Top. Top was believed to be behind the recent Jakarta bombings at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta that killed nine people.
“The information we are getting is that it’s him,” said police spokesman Nanan Soekarna . “[But] the police cannot confirm if Noordin is dead or not. We still can’t get into the house.”
Police are awaiting DNA tests before they will confirm the identity of the people shot. Police used robots to enter the suspects’ house to search for bombs, in a siege that lasted 17 hours.
Some tourist cancellations after Jakarta bombs
Tourism officials in Bali are confident the damage done to the industry from the recent bombings in Jakarta will only be minor.
“Until August 31, we have insignificant tourist arrival cancellation ranged 0-30 percent,” Ben Sukma, chairman the Association of Indonesia Tours and Travel told reporters.
“We also suffer cancellation of a cruise from Japan to Bali province, consisting of 1,800 people,” said Ben.
A martial arts tournament organized by the World Federation of Karate-Do Organizations has cancelled the tournament in Bali which was to be held from Saturday to Sunday this week.
The Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik estimated the tourism sector would take 6 months to recover.
“Indonesia has a lot of experience dealing with crises,” he said Wednesday at a press conference in the capital.
“We’ve been hit by bombs, tsunami, bird flu and financial crises, but we’ve survived. We always survive.
“We needed just one year to recover from the second Bali bombing. I have a gut feeling this time we’ll need only six months to recover.”
Bali on high security alert
by Mike on July 19, 2009
in Uncategorized
After yesterdays bombings in Jakarta, Bali is on high alert as some people fear it could be the next target.
“Bali remains an attractive potential target for terrorists,” Police Chief Insp. Gen. Teuku Asikin Husein said. “One of the characteristics of terrorists is [their love of] publicity. If anything happens in Bali, it will quickly become international [news].”
Tourism offiicials are confident however the bombings won’t have a major affect on tourism.
“The last Marriott bombing did not have a serious impact on tourism in Bali,” said Bali Hotel Association executive director Djinaldi Gosana, referring to an August 2003 car-bomb attack at the Jakarta hotel, which left 12 people dead, including a Dutch businessman and two Chinese tourists.
Three Australians died in the bomb blasts: Nathan Verity, Craig Senger and Garth McEvoy had died in the bombings.
Police believe Malaysian-born explosives expert Noordin Top was behind the attacks.
