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Travellers urged to avoid Bali
LONDON, England -- The UK Foreign Office is warning against all travel by British citizens to Bali and non-essential travel to Indonesia after the nightclub bomb that killed at least 180 people. At least two Britons were confirmed to have been killed in Saturday night's attacks, 15 were missing and 18 were among the hundreds injured. Other European victims included German, French, Swedish and Greek nationals. The exotic up-market resort had been popular with Europeans, particularly Britons, in recent years and was a favoured honeymoon destination. A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was "horrified" by the explosions in Bali. "He completely and utterly condemns this appalling terrorist act. His sympathies are with the families of the dead and injured." The German foreign ministry said that at least seven German tourists had been injured and one German woman was missing. Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Sunday that Germans were stunned by the bomb blast. "The German government is horrified and shocked by the terrible events in Bali in which many people were killed and injured," Fischer said in a statement. "We cannot rule out that Germans were also killed," he said. "The victims and their loved ones have our deepest sympathies." Fischer called for a speedy investigation. "If the fears that this was a targeted attack are realised, those responsible must be identified and brought to justice." President Jacques Chirac said Sunday that France was ready to help Indonesia in every possible way to capture the perpetrators of the "vile" bomb attack. "It is with horror and worry that I learnt that Indonesia has suffered the worst act of terrorism in its history," Chirac wrote in a letter to his Indonesian counterpart, Megawati Sukarnoputri. He said France would offer "all possible help to help identify the perpetrators of these vile acts and bring them to justice." It is not known how many French citizens were hurt by the blasts though none are thought to have died. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the attack had been "committed by the most evil and most perverted people who think that some political aim of theirs can be achieved by attacking mainly young people who are enjoying themselves and also in turn contributing a great deal to the Indonesian economy. "So it is indeed the most appalling event and I sent my condolences to relatives of those Britons who have been killed and to those who have been injured and to everybody else who has suffered in this terrible explosion." Straw told BBC radio: "As far as al Qaeda are concerned it's too early to say whether they were the people behind this terrible extremist terrorist event. What is palpable is that it is a terrorist incident which has been perpetrated by very extreme uncaring people. "We can speculate about which organisation may or may not be responsible. "There have been concerns around the world about the number of Indonesian-based terrorist cells but we obviously have no specific information that they were going to perpetrate this kind of explosion, still less that they would do this in a tourist resort like Bali and had we had that kind of information we would have changed our travel advice before the event rather than having had to after the event." Straw added: "I do understand how anybody who had relatives or friends in Bali is going to be extremely anxious and we are all the time, hour by hour, upgrading the staffing to take account of pressure people obviously feel."
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