The Sydney Morning Herald, December 16, 2004
Stay away: alert on Indonesian hotels
By Cynthia Banham, Mark Forbes and Matthew Moore. December 16, 2004
Australian tourists in Indonesia were warned last night to stay away from international
hotels after the Federal Government yesterday received intelligence reports that
terrorists were plotting an imminent attack, possibly on a Hilton hotel.
The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, called an urgent press conference during
ministerial talks in Papua New Guinea to issue the warning, stating Australia was
taking the threat extremely seriously.
The intelligence had already been passed on to Indonesia and to other Western
countries, Mr Downer said.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials were scrambling last night to contact
international hotels throughout Indonesia where Australians might be staying, after
intelligence advising of the possible attack.
There are three Hilton hotels in Indonesia - in Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya.
The warning is unusually specific and it is the first time a particular hotel group has
been named as a target - although soon after the September 9 attack on the
Australian embassy in Jakarta the Government named an apartment complex in the
city it believed could be a target.
The new warning was issued just 24 hours after the Government warned Australians
on Tuesday to be careful if travelling in Indonesia over Christmas and the New Year.
The new advice said the Government had "received credible new information
suggesting terrorists are ready to carry out an attack shortly in Indonesia, possibly
targeting a Hilton hotel".
It warned Australians who were concerned for their safety to consider leaving
Indonesia and those who had to remain in Indonesia to "exercise extreme caution".
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials also warned the terrorists could
quickly change their target.
"Other targets cannot be ruled out," the advice continued.
"In light of this information, Australians in Jakarta, and elsewhere in Indonesia, are
advised to avoid all international hotels and other places where foreigners are known
to gather."
Although Mr Downer said extensive discussions with Indonesian authorities were held
throughout yesterday on the threat, senior Indonesian officials contacted by the
Herald were unaware of it. The head of Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit, General
Pranowo Dahlan, said he knew nothing of it.
"We did not receive information about this. But we did increase security in several
places possibly under threat," he said.
The head of the anti-terrorism desk in the ministry for politics and security, Ansyad
M'bai, also said he had received no information about a new attack, although he said
the potential was there because the Malaysian bombers Dr Azahari and Nurdin
Mohammad Top remained at large.
A spokesman for the Jakarta Hilton, Emeraldo Parengkuan, said he had heard nothing
about the threat until contacted by the Herald yesterday and was surprised as
security had been tight at the hotel because of several visits by the country's leaders.
The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had been at the hotel on
Tuesday, his deputy, Jusuf Kalla, had been there yesterday and Dr Yudhoyono was
due again at the hotel today.
A spokesman for Qantas said last night flights to Indonesia would continue as normal,
but the airline would provide full refunds and waive penalty fees for customers who
wanted to cancel or change flights to Indonesia.
AP reports that a two-day visit to Indonesia by Defence Minister Robert Hill, who is
due in Jakarta today, is to go ahead as planned.
Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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