One week after the Jakarta Marriott Bombing Kevin Rudd - Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs

Media Statement - 10 August 2003

Mr Downer finally confirms the interception of a terrorist email back in June

Nearly one week after the Jakarta Marriott bombing, Foreign Minister Downer finally confirms that:

• An email was intercepted from terrorists concerning possible terrorist targeting of Jakarta; and
• That this email indicated that a terrorist bombing target was the area surrounding the Jakarta Marriott.

This revelation from Foreign Minister Downer follows questions raised by the Federal Opposition last Friday about the accuracy of international media reports concerning prior Indonesian intelligence information relevant to the Jakarta Marriott bombing of 5 August.

The first question for Mr Downer to answer is: why has it taken fully a week to confirm the existence of this intelligence information.

The second question for Mr Downer is: what specifically did this intercepted email contain? Did it contain an indicative target list from either al Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiah or any other related terrorist organisation or individual?

A third question for Mr Downer is: when was this information passed from the Indonesian authorities to relevant agencies of the Commonwealth Government?

The Federal Opposition at this stage is not in possession of any information that would prove that MrDowner's travel advisories on Jakarta were inadequate.

However, any doubts concerning this would be allayed if Mr Downer provided specific answers to the three questions posed above, that rather than his standard reply to such question which can best be paraphrased as: "trust me, I'm the Minister".

If Mr Downer proceeds to trot out the age-old argument that he cannot divulge intelligence information, the problem he confronts is that he is already half-pregnant on this question. As of Sunday, he has confirmed that an email was intercepted, that it is likely to have been from a terrorist organisation, and that it confirmed a possible terrorist attack on the area of Jakarta where the Marriott Hotel is located. Either Mr Downer should release the full text of this email (or a full and accurate summary of its contents) and precisely how this intelligence information was incorporated into the June and July travel advisories for Indonesia issued by his Department.