The Jakarta Post, December 14, 2004
SBY orders security tightened for holidays
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Palu
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered authorities on Monday to tighten
security ahead of the Christmas and New Year's holidays following attacks on two
churches in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.
"There should be extra security measures for the Christmas and New Year's
celebrations. Intelligence operations will be conducted to prevent further
disturbances," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo
A.S. said after meeting with the President.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar also attended the meeting.
Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said the President had summoned the two top
security officials to hear their reports on the latest developments in Palu, where five
people were injured in attacks on the Immanuel Church and Anugerah Church on
Sunday evening.
"The President ordered the police to increase their presence in potential hot spots like
Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Makassar, and to arrest the perpetrators of the
attacks in Palu as soon as possible," Sudi said.
Indonesia was rocked by a string of bomb attacks on churches on Christmas Eve four
years ago. The attacks left 19 people dead and about 100 others injured.
The church bombings preceded a series of blasts targeting foreign interests in Bali on
Oct. 12, 2002, the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Aug. 5, 2003, and the Australian
Embassy in South Jakarta on Sept. 9, 2004. The Jamaah Islamiyah regional terror
group has been blamed for the bombings.
The church attacks in Palu are the latest in a series of attacks there, including the
murder in April of Ferry Silalahi, a prosecutor handling terrorism cases, and the
shooting death in July of a woman minister, Susianti Tinulele.
Da'i said the police were prepared to provide security during the Christmas and New
Year's festivities. However, Sudi said the President suggested that the police deploy
more personnel and increase patrols to prevent attacks in other parts of the country.
Palu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Noman Siswandi was dismissed on Monday for
failing to prevent the church attacks on Sunday, which took place almost
simultaneously.
"He (Siswandi) did not carry out orders to station extra personnel at houses of
worship. He should have provided better protection for churches," Central Sulawesi
Police chief Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi said.
Aryanto installed Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Widodo as his replacement.
Siswandi was transferred to Central Sulawesi Police Headquarters without a position.
Aryanto said Siswandi was removed from his post for failing to prevent the church
attacks on Sunday, as well as for his failure to stop or solve earlier attacks.
None of the killers of Ferry or Susianti have been captured, and a team set up by
Siswandi made several wrong arrests.
Aryanto said the police had received descriptions of the bombers of Immanuel Church
on Jl. Masjid Raya in South Palu after questioning about 15 witnesses.
The perpetrators had dark complexions and were riding a Yamaha F1ZR motorcycle,
Aryanto said, adding that before throwing a bomb at the church the attackers opened
fire on a 60-year-old security guard, Binti Jaya.
Four men carrying M-16 guns attacked Anugerah Church on Jl. Tanjung Manimbaya,
some 800 meters south of Immanuel Church, Aryanto said.
"They were riding a Yamaha RX King motorcycle with license plate number DN 5334
AF," he said.
He said he believed the attackers were linked to the earlier murders of Susianti and
Ferry.
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