Pubdate: Thu, 02 Jun 2005
Source: Herald Democrat (TX)
Copyright: 2005 Herald Democrat
Contact:  http://www.herald-democrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2710
Author: Mike Corder, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

SUPPORTERS OF DRUG SMUGGLER SUSPECTED IN EMBASSY ATTACK

SYDNEY, Australia  - A 27-year-old convicted drug smuggler and former 
beauty school student is the unlikely center of the latest controversy 
between Australia and Indonesia.

Supporters of Schapelle Corby were blamed Wednesday for sending what 
officials said was a "biological agent" to the Indonesian Embassy in the 
Australian capital of Canberra  forcing police to seal off the compound and 
prompting an apology from Prime Minister John Howard.

The embassy remained closed Thursday as a tense wait continued for the 
results of tests. Howard said that if they proved the powder was dangerous, 
"it's an act of reckless indifference to human life and I apologize on 
behalf of the Australian people to the Indonesian government."

And Inodnesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mary Natalegawa told Metro TV: 
"If this act turns out to be related to Corby, we hope the Australian 
people do not make an enemy of the Indonesian people."

Howard identified the substance as bacillus  a genus of bacteria that are 
mostly benign but include bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax.

Although there was no claim of responsibility, Howard said the timing 
pointed to a likely link with the Corby case. She was convicted Friday of 
smuggling nine pounds of marijuana onto the Indonesian island of Bali and 
sentenced to 20 years in prison.

"Anybody who imagines that this kind of gesture towards the Indonesian 
ambassador is going to alter attitudes in Indonesia (should understand) it 
will have a negative effect on the judiciary, it will have a negative on 
political opinion in that country  all of which is very unhelpful," Howard 
said.

Friday's verdict was broadcast live by three Australian television 
networks. People in bars and shopping malls huddled around TV sets to watch.

Corby has tearfully denied smuggling and claimed baggage handlers in 
Australia planted the drugs in her bag. She appealed her conviction and 
sentence Wednesday.

Public outrage at what is perceived by many Australians as an unfair 
conviction and unduly harsh sentence is casting a cloud over relations 
between Australia and Indonesia. Howard's government has tried to ensure 
the anger does not boil over into a diplomatic crisis.

"If people want to help Schapelle Corby the worst thing for them to do is 
to be abusive and negative towards Indonesia," Foreign Minister Alexander 
Downer said.

Relations between Australia and Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago north of 
Australia, reached a low point in 1999 when Canberra led an international 
force that quelled violence by Indonesian government-backed militias in 
East Timor.

In recent years, the two countries have been drawn closer together, 
particularly in shared grief after the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 
people, including 88 Australians.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D