LAKSAMANA.Net, June 3, 2005 03:41 PM
US Reiterates Warning of Terror Attacks
Laksamana.Net - The US Embassy in Jakarta has again warned of a plot to bomb
hotels frequented by Westerners in the city, less than a week after blasts killed 21
people in Central Sulawesi province.
In a statement issued on Friday (3/6/05) the embassy said it had learned that as of
June 1 "there were plans by extremists to conduct bomb attacks targeting the lobbies
of hotels frequented by Westerners in Jakarta".
"The attacks were to occur circa noon on an unspecified date. There is no additional
information on the timing for the attack(s), or the method of attack," it said.
The US Embassy and other US consulates in Indonesia reopened only on Tuesday
after closing on May 26 due to an unspecified security threat.
The Australian Embassy has notified Australians in Indonesia of the latest US warning
and advised Australians to defer non-essential travel to Indonesia, including Bali.
Security has been tightened in Jakarta at possible terrorist targets following the May
28 bombings that killed 21 people at a Christian market in the Central Sulawesi town
of Tentena.
On late Thursday night, several members of the police bomb squad visited the city's
main backpacker strip, Jalan Jaksa, but declined to say whether they were acting in
response to a threat.
Elsewhere in the city, several bars frequented by Westerners have set up nightly road
blocks and hired security officials to check all incoming vehicles. Security personnel
have also been posted at sidewalk entrances to the shopping complex containing the
city's main McDonald's restaurant.
Over the past five years Indonesia has been hit by a series of bomb attacks blamed
on regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, which is yet to be banned by the
government.
Two of Jemaah Islamiyah's senior bomb-makers, Azahari Husin and Noordin
Mohammad Top, remain at large despite the president's order that police to make it a
priority to apprehend them.
The two have reportedly managed to evade capture in the past by bribing corrupt
police, although President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has not responded by
dismissing National Police General Dai Bachtiar.
The pair are wanted in connection with the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that
killed 202 people, the August 2003 bomb blast that killed 12 people at Jakarta's JW
Marriott Hotel and the September 2004 blast that killed 11 people outside the
Australian Embassy.
Terrorism experts say the two are likely to continue to evade capture because of their
extensive network of sympathizers willing to hide them from police.
The US Embassy has warned the terrorist threat in Indonesia remains high. "Attacks
could occur at any time and could be directed against any location, including those
frequented by foreigners and identifiably American and other western facilities or
businesses in Indonesia."
Bachtiar on Friday said police intelligence suggested the network led by Azahari and
Noordin was probably behind the latest US terror warning.
He said the warning was "appropriate" because the US and its allies had become the
main target of extremists.
Police are continuing to do their best to maintain security and hunt down the wanted
bombers, he added.
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