/ 1 October 2005

Mbeki condemns Bali bombings

South African President Thabo Mbeki has conveyed condolences, shock and outrage to the government and people of Indonesia following a series of bombings in Bali on Saturday.

”The government and people of South Africa express their unequivocal condemnation of the series of bombings in your country today, in which a number of people were killed and many others maimed and wounded,” Mbeki said in a message of condolences to Indonesian President Susilo Bombang Yudhoyono.

”It is indeed tragic for your country to again experience acts of terror on this scale, especially while the memories of the October 12 2002 Bali bombings, in which 202 people were killed, remain vivid.”

Mbeki added that the government and people of South Africa reiterate their conviction that no cause can ever justify acts of terrorism.

At least 25 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when bombs exploded almost simultaneously in two tourist areas of the Indonesian resort island of Bali. — Sapa