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'Unpredictable' al Qaeda blamed in Bali
KUTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- There is a growing consensus that al Qaeda was behind the weekend nightclub explosions in Indonesia, and experts say the terror group is becoming more unpredictable and harder to stop. "We are sure al Qaeda is here. The Bali bomb blasts are related to al Qaeda, with the cooperation of local terrorists," Indonesian Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil told CNN Monday. (Full story) President Bush agreed that al Qaeda probably was behind this and other recent attacks. "It does look like a pattern of attacks -- that the enemy, albeit on the run, is trying to once again frighten and kill freedom-loving people," Bush said. (Full story) Saturday's two explosions in the nightclub district of Bali's Kuta Beach killed more than 180 people and left hundreds more injured or missing. (Gallery: After the nightmare) Terrorism experts also point to al Qaeda involvement in the blasts. "The only organization that could have conducted a professional attack of the scale we have witnessed in Bali is al Qaeda and its Southeast Asia network Jemaah Islamiah," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of "Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror." Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, accused by Washington of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, denied any involvement in the Bali explosions. He blamed "foreign parties," including the United States. (Full story) Ba'asyir is wanted by Singapore and Malaysia but lives freely in Indonesia and denies any link to Jemaah Islamiah or al Qaeda. (Full story) Jemaah Islamiah is blamed for the September 23 grenade explosion near a U.S. Embassy warehouse in Jakarta as well as several other bombing attacks in Southeast Asia. Its members have been arrested in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in connection with plans to bomb U.S. targets across the region. (Full story) Officials in Singapore accuse Ba'asyir's deputy, Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, of being a longtime al Qaeda operative. Intelligence sources in the region said the Bali blasts have Hambali's fingerprints. Terrorism experts also point out that al Qaeda is evolving, using smaller, less sophisticated attacks not as closely coordinated with its top leadership, but just as deadly. "Al Qaeda is not weakened. In many ways, it's more difficult, more unpredictable now to be able to stave off what they have in mind," said Magnus Ranstorp of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. U.S. FBI agents and Australians were aiding Indonesians in their investigation in Bali. Anniversary of Cole attackAccording to witnesses, an explosion ripped through one Bali nightclub, and as people streamed out, another, larger blast tore through the Sari Club, which caters mainly to international visitors and was packed with hundreds of revelers. (Survivors recall horror) It was the seventh major bombing in the region in the past three weeks and occurred on the second anniversary of the terrorist attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen. Relief teams combed debris in Bali looking for bodies and the missing. The blasts leveled an entire block. Authorities told CNN they believe explosives were packed inside a jeep-like vehicle parked outside the Sari nightclub. Most of those killed were young tourists from Australia, and Australian Prime Minister John Howard called a special session of senior government ministers Monday to consider a response. It [terror] has happened to our own on our doorstep," Howard said. "In many ways ... the word terrorism is too antiseptic an expression to describe what happened," he said, pledging that Australia would continue to support the international war on terrorism led by the United States. (Full story) Citizens from at least 12 other countries – including Bali, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States -- were also among the bombing victims. Fear of more violenceAfter a day of security meetings, Indonesian chief security minister Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said his country also had information about possible terrorist plots against vital oil and gas installations in the country. He told CNN that security had been stepped up at the oil and gas facilities, Western embassies in Jakarta and other possible targets. Meanwhile, Southeast Asian markets tumbled and concerns grew that the tourism industry -- which had been on the rebound since the September 11 attacks on the United States -- would once again take a severe hit. The U.S. State Department ordered all nonessential U.S. employees and their families to leave Indonesia and urged other Americans to do the same due to "increased security concerns." Britain also urged its citizens to leave, and crowds of tourists and embassy workers anxiously boarded planes to leave the island Monday. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said 30 Britons may have been killed in the attacks. "We have yet again evidence of the appalling depths to which these extremists will sink," Blair told reporters outside 10 Downing Street. (Full story) CNN Correspondents Maria Ressa and Mike Chinoy contributed to this report.
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