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Officials Suspect Weekend Bombings in Bali May be Work of Al Qaeda

Aired October 14, 2002 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, officials suspect that the weekend bombings in Bali also may also be the work of Al Qaeda. Americans and other tourists are scrambling now to get out of the region, now that the blasts have turned that island into a -- from a paradise into a scene of carnage.
Our senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy is following the latest developments for us in Bali. He joins us now, via video phone, with the very latest.

Mike.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. Well, this is very close to where the explosions happened on Saturday night and it's a scene of utter devastation. It's quiet now. The search through the rubble was called off when night fell and will pick up again in the morning. Behind me you can see some wreaths and some candles that were laid by -- brought by people throughout the day trying to commemorate those who died.

On Kuta Beach, which is normally packed with tourists here, a couple of hours ago, there was a candlelight vigil, as well, by some of those who remain here in Bali, but a lot of visitors have left in the last day and a half since this bombing took place. It's a huge, devastating blow to this island, which depends on tourism.

Meanwhile, the death toll continues to mount. And the latest figures that we have from the morgue, concerning casualties from Saturday night's bombing, 450-plus injured, 181 now dead, of whom only 39 have had positive ID's, and 123 people missing.

I have a handout from the morgue with instructions for family members trying to get news of their loved ones, asking them to bring medical records, dental records, anything to help identify the bodies. Many of them were very, very badly burned in the blast, and identifying those victims has been a very, very tough job.

Meanwhile, there's intense pressure on the Indonesian government to crack down on Islamic extremists -- pressure from the U.S. and other countries in Southeast Asia. The big question is will the government, which has sat on the fence and refused, so far, to take tough action against local Islamic extremists move, now that this scale of terrorist attack has happened right here in Indonesia.

Leon? HARRIS: Well, Mike, we're trying to make out exactly what that is right behind you. I understand that's some sort of a memorial that's been, I guess, been assembling there, where people have been dropping things off there right behind you? Can you explain that for us?

CHINOY: That's right. The buildings behind you have all been devastated by the explosion. But what you see immediately behind me are some wreaths and also some candles. We'll move the camera now to see down this street in the darkness, about 75 or 100 yards, is where the bomb actually went off.

Small groups of people have come just to stare, to ponder. There's a man just sitting off camera, who's lived here for many years, who lived just down the street, who was home on Saturday night and he was just saying to me a few moments ago that he'd never believe in peaceful Bali that something like this would happen. This isn't Beirut, it's Bali. But now terrorism has come right here to the heart of Bali.

ANCHOR: And Mike, we all understand just how important tourism is to Bali. And many are saying that, perhaps, what happened over that weekend could do to the Balinesian or the Indonesian economy what September 11th has done to the U.S. economy. Is that the expectation there this morning?

CHINOY: Perhaps, even worse, because here in Bali, it's basically 90 percent of the economy is tourism. Almost all the jobs depend on tourism. The tourists are fleeing in droves. And so, huge numbers of people here in Bali are wondering how they're going to make ends meet.

Moreover, the tourism income here in Bali made up a huge proportion of the overall tourism income for Indonesia. And Indonesia is a country that has been in acute economic trouble for a long time. It's been wracked by all kinds of turmoil and violence.

So altogether, this is a really devastating blow. Analysts and diplomats say only if the government quickly move against Islamic radicals in a way that it's seen to be credible and effective, can some kind of confidence be restored. Otherwise, the danger is that the exodus of foreign tourists that we've seen here in Bali will spiral, according to diplomats I've been speaking with and analysts, into a broader exodus of foreigners leaving the whole country and be a further erosion of confidence, with potentially very dangerous and destabilizing consequences for Indonesia.

HARRIS: Mike Chinoy reporting to us from Bali, Indonesia. Thanks, Mike. Be careful out there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Al Qaeda>


Aired October 14, 2002 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, officials suspect that the weekend bombings in Bali also may also be the work of Al Qaeda. Americans and other tourists are scrambling now to get out of the region, now that the blasts have turned that island into a -- from a paradise into a scene of carnage.
Our senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy is following the latest developments for us in Bali. He joins us now, via video phone, with the very latest.

Mike.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. Well, this is very close to where the explosions happened on Saturday night and it's a scene of utter devastation. It's quiet now. The search through the rubble was called off when night fell and will pick up again in the morning. Behind me you can see some wreaths and some candles that were laid by -- brought by people throughout the day trying to commemorate those who died.

On Kuta Beach, which is normally packed with tourists here, a couple of hours ago, there was a candlelight vigil, as well, by some of those who remain here in Bali, but a lot of visitors have left in the last day and a half since this bombing took place. It's a huge, devastating blow to this island, which depends on tourism.

Meanwhile, the death toll continues to mount. And the latest figures that we have from the morgue, concerning casualties from Saturday night's bombing, 450-plus injured, 181 now dead, of whom only 39 have had positive ID's, and 123 people missing.

I have a handout from the morgue with instructions for family members trying to get news of their loved ones, asking them to bring medical records, dental records, anything to help identify the bodies. Many of them were very, very badly burned in the blast, and identifying those victims has been a very, very tough job.

Meanwhile, there's intense pressure on the Indonesian government to crack down on Islamic extremists -- pressure from the U.S. and other countries in Southeast Asia. The big question is will the government, which has sat on the fence and refused, so far, to take tough action against local Islamic extremists move, now that this scale of terrorist attack has happened right here in Indonesia.

Leon? HARRIS: Well, Mike, we're trying to make out exactly what that is right behind you. I understand that's some sort of a memorial that's been, I guess, been assembling there, where people have been dropping things off there right behind you? Can you explain that for us?

CHINOY: That's right. The buildings behind you have all been devastated by the explosion. But what you see immediately behind me are some wreaths and also some candles. We'll move the camera now to see down this street in the darkness, about 75 or 100 yards, is where the bomb actually went off.

Small groups of people have come just to stare, to ponder. There's a man just sitting off camera, who's lived here for many years, who lived just down the street, who was home on Saturday night and he was just saying to me a few moments ago that he'd never believe in peaceful Bali that something like this would happen. This isn't Beirut, it's Bali. But now terrorism has come right here to the heart of Bali.

ANCHOR: And Mike, we all understand just how important tourism is to Bali. And many are saying that, perhaps, what happened over that weekend could do to the Balinesian or the Indonesian economy what September 11th has done to the U.S. economy. Is that the expectation there this morning?

CHINOY: Perhaps, even worse, because here in Bali, it's basically 90 percent of the economy is tourism. Almost all the jobs depend on tourism. The tourists are fleeing in droves. And so, huge numbers of people here in Bali are wondering how they're going to make ends meet.

Moreover, the tourism income here in Bali made up a huge proportion of the overall tourism income for Indonesia. And Indonesia is a country that has been in acute economic trouble for a long time. It's been wracked by all kinds of turmoil and violence.

So altogether, this is a really devastating blow. Analysts and diplomats say only if the government quickly move against Islamic radicals in a way that it's seen to be credible and effective, can some kind of confidence be restored. Otherwise, the danger is that the exodus of foreign tourists that we've seen here in Bali will spiral, according to diplomats I've been speaking with and analysts, into a broader exodus of foreigners leaving the whole country and be a further erosion of confidence, with potentially very dangerous and destabilizing consequences for Indonesia.

HARRIS: Mike Chinoy reporting to us from Bali, Indonesia. Thanks, Mike. Be careful out there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Al Qaeda>