-Caveat Lector- http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,5309365%255E20221,00.html
The lost warning 18oct02 US intelligence warned its citizens to stay away from bars like the Sari Club just hours before it was torn apart by a terrorist bomb. Political Reporter SAMANTHA MAIDEN asks why Australians weren't given a similar warning. THE "Worldwide Caution Alert" posted a day before the Bali blast, and warning of terrorist attacks targeting westerners at clubs and restaurants, is chilling in retrospect. Based on recent audio tape of Osama bin Laden and other intelligence reports of threats to US interests, it warned terrorists may turn to `soft targets' including "nightclubs, bars and other places where expatriates gather". And there, on the US Department of State website and the website for the US Embassy in Indonesia, it sat for more than 24 hours. Australians were oblivious to it as the hours ticked away to the horrific bomb attack on Saturday night. Who among the victims would have thought to check a US government website, or even take the advice as relevant to Bali, a Hindu stronghold in the predominantly Muslim archipelago, regarded as a world away from the violence found in other parts of Indonesia? On September 9, also unknown to those Australians planning their Bali holidays, there had been another warning. Osama bin Laden's top envoy in South-East Asia, who cracked after three months of interrogation, told the CIA he had been ordered to plan large-scale attacks against US interests in the region. A dossier based on the CIA interrogation of alleged al Qaeda terrorist Omar Al-Faruq, revealed a week later, warned of a "new terror spree in South-East Asia". Jemaah Islamiyah's spiritual leader, Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, had "authorised Al-Faruq to use JI operatives and resources" and despite his arrest, back-up operations were in place to "assume the responsibilities and carry out operations as planned". His confession prompted the US terror advisory system to move up to orange, for the first time. Marking the September 11 anniversary with car bombs at embassies was the known plan, however, and the date passed without incident. Omar Al-Faruq remains under guard in the Guantanamo Bay jail shared by alleged Adelaide al Qaeda operative David Hicks. The US Department of State was quick to point out this week they had "no specific information of a planned bombing in Bali". But amid the grief, a question remains: Did authorities do enough to warn tourists of the danger? Should Australia's Foreign Affairs department have upgraded its own warnings, as the US Department of State did twice in the weeks before the bombing? Prime Minister John Howard, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer and Attorney-General Daryl Williams face mounting public concern that official warnings, which at the time would undoubtedly have been attacked by tourist operators as scaremongering, were simply not strong enough. DEFENCE Minister Robert Hill has revealed Australia's intelligence watchdog, Inspector General Bill Blick, has a wide-ranging brief to review all material available before the Bali attacks. Bali was not mentioned in the US official warnings, but Mr Howard confirmed to Parliament on Wednesday that one intelligence report passed on to Australia had identified the holiday island, among other locations in the region. Under pressure, the Government yesterday revealed the warning referred to the arrest of Muslim leaders. Those arrests, which a foreign intelligence agency warned could increase the risk of terrorist activity and unrest in Bali, never occurred. According to Mr Howard, "this intelligence was assessed by agencies and the view was formed by them that no alteration in the threat level – then at high – applying to Indonesia was warranted". Australia's Foreign Affairs website upgraded its travel bulletins last Friday, warning of general threats to US interests at home and overseas. However, Bali was not even mentioned among warnings against travel to traditional hot spots for danger: West Timor, Aceh and Maluku. Tourist services, it assured any holidaymakers who knew where to look, were operating as normal. In Jakarta, the Australian Embassy on October 3 issued a warning to Australians to remain on alert – without mentioning Bali. "As in the past around religious holidays, militant groups may conduct increased activity against nightclubs, bars, and other places where expatriates gather," it said. "Australians are advised to take particular care in this period prior to holidays and during Ramadan." On September 26, the US had updated its travel advisory warning Westerners to "avoid large gatherings and locations known to cater primarily to Western clientele, such as certain bars, restaurants and tourist areas." "The judgment was made by the Department of Foreign Affairs that the travel advice, given that it warned of the possibility of bombings, particularly in areas frequented by tourists, that there was no need therefore to change the travel advice to Australians," Mr Howard said yesterday. Instead, Australians awoke on Saturday to warnings power plants or nuclear facilities could be targeted on home soil by terrorists, following warnings from the US. Attorney-General Daryl Williams announced just after 10pm on Friday that US authorities had passed on concerns of a specific threat to "energy infrastructure". 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