Just when I was feeling a bit paranoid about our poor luck this past week and the prominence of terrorists in Bali a bomb explodes outside of the Indonesian embassy in Paris. We arrive in Paris Tuesday morning and the bomb went off early Wednesday morning in the west of Paris. Will everyone just chill it with the terrorism for a minute! I don't know what to think, I don't want to end up in an underground bunker somewhere hoarding rice and canned fruit and sewing clothes for Theo out of old burlap sacks, so everyone just chill.
The bomb exploded shortly before dawn blowing out windows in a 50-meter radius and setting fire to two cars. Police chief Michel Gaudin told reporters that a bag had been spotted under the embassy's windows by a worker clearing bins in the street. "He looked inside the bag, opened it and thought it must be a bomb since he saw a cannister attached to wires. He dropped it, left the area and called the police. That's when it exploded."
Thankfully "no-one was hurt but there are people in shock in neighboring flats." Police say the bomb contained "several kilos of explosives" however no group or individual has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
In Jakarta, Teuku Faizasyah, the Indonesian presidential spokesman on foreign affairs, said "We're still looking for clarity on whether we were the target or not" In 2004 a small bomb exploded at the Indonesian embassy in Paris however this was seen as a local incident and "not a national threat," to Indonesia he said.
Indonesian intelligence agency head Lieutenant General Marciano Norman told reporters in Jakarta that CCTV footage shows the bomb was moved away from the embassy before exploding.He said the package was initially placed in a garbage bin outside the embassy."About 10 minutes later, somebody came and moved it to the other side of the street. Only after that, it exploded."Based on the CCTV footage, we can strongly say that the bomb was not targeting the Indonesian embassy," he said.
Personally I'm not sure what this strong conviction that the bomb was not intended for the Indonesian embassy is based on and I hope there is news on who placed the bomb soon. I'm also not sure what to do about our visa situation. Michel had planned to pass by the embassy to obtain long term social visas for Bali (ours have expired since we left the country) but I plan to nix that idea. Who needs visas when you live in an underground bunker anyway? :)
UPDATE: According to the BBC, police have three suspects in custody. Earlier reports said witnesses had seen three men leave a package near the embassy.
In Jakarta, officials say the embassy, as well as relations with France, will continue as before. "I don't think a little explosion to deter us from going on with the business of our activities," Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said. "But we will be very vigilant obviously."
