Indonesian embassy in Australia closed by biological attack
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-01 23:28

SYDNEY (AFP) - Indonesia's embassy in Canberra was sealed with 22 staff inside after a letter filled with a bacterial powder arrived for the ambassador in what appeared to be a biological attack linked to the jailing of a young Australian woman in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

Prime Minister John Howard condemned the attack Wednesday and issued a formal apology to Indonesia, a former regional rival.

Jakarta called the incident a cowardly attempt to intimidate it over the conviction and jailing last week of Australian Schapelle Corby, whose fate sparked outrage among many Australians.

"This is a deeply distressing incident," said a clearly shaken Howard. "It is quite appalling, and I condemn it unreservedly.

"Let me say that I'm staggered that it's happened, but I'm afraid that we have to recognise that there's a dark corner in every country and you can get that kind of behavior in every country," he said, calling the attack "a recklessly criminal act".

But Howard, whose conservative government is one of Washington's closest allies in the US-led "war on terror", stopped short of calling the incident a terrorist attack.

Police said the powder spilled onto the floor when embassy staff in the capital Canberra opened a letter addressed to Ambassor Imran Cotan.

The letter arrived mid-morning, and by Wednesday afternoon the leafy street outside the embassy was swarming with police, firefighters and emergency personnel in protective clothing.

The nearby US and French embassies were unaffected.

The 22 staff inside the embassy had to take disinfectant showers.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said they would be kept under quarantine in the compound for up to 48 hours while scientists tried to determine the exact nature of the bacteria involved.

Ambassador Cotan was not in the embassy at the time.

Howard later said the biological agent inside the letter was a bacillus bacteria, a family which includes deadly anthrax but also harmless germs.

Canberra's chief health officer, Charles Guest, tried to play down the danger, saying it was highly unlikely the substance involved was deadly.

"The powder has been tested," he told ABC radio. "It contained some bacteria.

"Now, bacteria are everywhere in the universe so it's not particularly significant. But there is the remote chance that this may be something threatening and we're testing for that."

Howard worried that the attack would "do great damage in the eyes of many Indonesian people to the relationship between our countries".

"If it's related in any way to the Corby case, can I say to the perpetrators: you have not achieved your objective. In fact, you have made it harder for the poor girl," he said.

Corby, a 27-year-old student beautician from the Gold Coast surfing region of eastern Australia, was arrested on Indonesia's resort island of Bali in October when customs officers found 4.1 kilograms (nine pounds) of marijuana hidden in her boogyboard bag.

Corby pleaded innocent, claiming the drugs must have been planted.

But she was convicted last Friday of drug smuggling and sentenced to 20 years in jail, sparking outrage in Australia, where opinion polls say 90 percent of the public think she is innocent and many believe her case was mishandled by the Indonesian courts.

During and after Corby's trial, the Indonesian embassy and consulates around Australia received death threats over the case and requested increased security from police.

Australia's relations with Jakarta have only in the past two years begun to recover from serious tensions sparked by Australia's backing for East Timor's independence from Indonesia in 1999.

Indonesia, which refrained from reacting to the earlier threats against its missions in Australia, responded strongly to Wednesday's attack.

"We strongly condemn what happened, and clearly this is in contrast with the fact that there has been closeness between Indonesia and Australia," said foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalagewa.

"We will not be intimidated by this act of cowardice," he told Jakarta's Elshinta radio. "We will not succumb to this type of action".

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