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UK says 'sorry' to Bali families
BALI, Indonesia -- A senior British government minister has apologised to relatives of the Bali bombing victims for a "lack of co-ordination" over the attack. Foreign Minister Baroness Amos, who laid a wreath on Friday at the scene, said families were being put under undue pressure trying to find those who died. On Thursday, Tobias Ellwood, brother of one of the victims complained about the lack of support for relatives of the British victims who travelled to Bali. "There was no flag outside here, I feel let down -- I do not feel very British. The Australian Consul has briefings every day, a place where relatives can vent their feelings. We are having none of that. It is appalling," he said. Baroness Amos said: "I have spoken to the family and I have already said that I am sorry for the lack of co-ordination on our part meant that they were put under such enormous pressure. "The family were very mindful of the fact that the staff and the volunteers had done as much as they could and had supported them through that process." The minister spoke as Australian authorities faced criticism for the lack of speed of the identification process. (Full story) She also repeated the British government warning for British citizens to leave Indonesia. "We have revised our travel advice, we are advising against all foreign travel to Indonesia," she said. "We are recommending that citizens think about leaving Indonesia and if they decide to stay, to exercise extreme caution in particular places including places of religious worship." She spoke as her government was coming under pressure back in London to disclose what intelligence it received prior to the bombing in which approximately 200 people were killed. The Foreign Office has confirmed that 11 Britons were among the dead with 21 others officially missing. There is concern in Britain over reports that the CIA warned its stations across south east Asia last month of an imminent terror attack at five or six possible locations, including Bali. UK opposition parties are demanding Prime Minister Tony Blair explain if the Foreign Office had the same intelligence why it, too, did not issue a similar warning. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has confirmed that Britain had received a "generic" warning about the terrorist threat to Bali and other Indonesian islands earlier this year. But he insisted it had had no "specific" information which could have prevented last Saturday's bombing. Straw told Friday's BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There was a generic threat information which covered Bali as well as quite a number of other islands in Indonesia and that was reflected in the overall travel advice which we issued in August. "We had no specific warnings of an attack in Bali. We didn't have any warnings, the United States didn't, Australia didn't. "It is for that reason we issued no warnings. Would that we had had such warnings, because to have been able to prevent this atrocity would have been wonderful, but we didn't." Opposition Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith and Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell have both called for explanations over what was know in advance. Campbell said: "The Government must move swiftly to resolve the apparent contradiction between the Foreign Office and (Downing Street). "The British public are entitled to no less."
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