Howard: We will not be intimidated
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australia will not be intimidated, Prime Minister John Howard said, after a blast killed six people outside the gates of the nation's embassy in Jakarta.
"This is not a nation that is going to be intimidated by acts of terrorism," Howard told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
Australia is sending bomb experts to Jakarta with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer Thursday night.
Howard said he had been told the "very large bomb" that went off in Jakarta about 10.15 a.m. local time was just four meters from the heavy steel gate at the front of the embassy. He said the gate was demolished, but the embassy's security fence held.
Howard said the fatalities could include some local security staff and some passers-by.
He said while Australian Federal Police could not be certain, all the evidence pointed to a car bomb.
Howard interrupted campaigning for the October 9 federal election to outline the Australian government's measures at a hastily called press conference in Melbourne.
He said Downer would immediately travel to Indonesia on a government jet, and would be accompanied by up to nine bomb experts and a senior medical officer. The Labor opposition's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd will also travel with Downer.
Australia also sent bomb experts and other police to the Indonesian tourist destination of Bali after the devastating nightclub bombings in October 2002 which left 202 people dead, including 88 Australians.
Foreign residents of Jakarta have been on heightened alert since a large bomb blast at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in August last year killed 12 people.
Australia immediately renewed its travel warning for Indonesia after Thursday's blast.
A spokeswoman for the Australian government in Canberra told CNN that no Australia-based staff in the embassy had been hurt. She said a handful of local staff were still to be accounted for.
Downer told Australian television later Thursday that he would be taking the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), the head of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and at least seven bomb experts, with him.
Downer said it was too early to say who might be responsible for the blast.
"Naturally enough our suspicions turn to Jemaah Islamiyah," he said.
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is the Southeast Asian affiliate of the al Qaeda terror group.
Last Friday, the Australian government issued a new travel warning, saying Australians should defer non-essential travel to Indonesia. It said Australians in Indonesia who were concerned for their safety should consider departing.
"We continue to receive reports that terrorists in the region are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners," it said.
Also on Friday, the United States said it had directed U.S. government travelers to Indonesia to avoid identifiably Western hotels.
Australian said its own government officials had been similarly advised to avoid such hotels in Jakarta.
Under the Howard government, Australia has been a strong supporter of the United States in its war on terror, and has committed troops to the U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
While Howard's Labor opponent Mark Latham also supports the U.S. alliance, he has said that he would seek to bring Australian troops home from Iraq as quickly as possible.
There has been a vigorous political debate in Australia over its involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, with critics saying Howard's unequivocal support of the United States has made Australia a more prominent target for terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and JI.
Thursday's blast will heighten the perception that Indonesia is a dangerous country to visit and a dangerous country to invest in, a security expert told Australian media Thursday.
