Australia's foreign minister, set to visit neighboring Indonesia Tuesday in the aftermath of the latest Bali bombings, said he will urge the country's
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFAustralia's foreign minister, set to visit neighboring Indonesia Tuesday in the aftermath of the latest Bali bombings, said he will urge the country's government to bolster its counterterrorism capabilities.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Monday he would stop off on his way to Jakarta at the tourist island where 23 people, including four Australians, were killed by suicide bombers on Oct. 1.
Downer said he hoped to meet with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as well as government ministers and Indonesia's police chief.
Downer also intends to push Australia's argument for Indonesia banning Jemaah Islamiyah, an extremist Islamic group suspected in the Oct. 1 attacks as well as car bombings in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Australia also wants Jemaah Islamiyah's suspected spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, barred from any further reductions in his prison sentence for his role in the 2002 attacks.
Bashir's 30-month jail term was slashed by four and a half months in August to mark Indonesia's independence day - part of Indonesia's system of automatic sentence reductions for good behavior.