The Sydney Morning Herald, December 17, 2004
Chaos after warning of hotel attack
By Cynthia Banham, Matthew Moore and Louise Dodson
[PHOTO. Extra security at the Jakarta Hilton was put in place yesterday. Photo:
Matthew Moore]
The Australian Government's warning to tourists of an imminent terrorist attack on a
Hilton hotel in Indonesia has exposed flaws in communications and co-ordination
between Canberra and Jakarta over vital security information.
The information was not passed on to top Indonesian anti-terrorism officials, even
though the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had briefed the Indonesian
embassy in Canberra and senior Government officials in Jakarta before the public
release of its travel warning on Wednesday night.
The Hilton Hotel in Jakarta also failed to inform guests of the warnings, prompting a
rebuke yesterday from the Prime Minister, John Howard.
More information emerged yesterday about the "credible" new intelligence that
prompted the Government to release its travel advisory, telling Australians to stay
away from international hotels in Indonesia.
Intelligence agencies had been picking up "chatter" for some time pointing to a new
terrorist plot, Government sources said, but the advisory was released only after new
specific information was received indicating an attack would take place within a
fortnight.
The advisory was of the rare "extreme" level, meaning it was believed the terrorists
intended to carry out the plot imminently and were capable of doing so.
It is believed that US and Australian agencies, including ASIO, were involved in
intercepting the information.
But there was confusion yesterday after Indonesian police said they had not received
any information about an attack on a Hilton hotel, and Indonesia's deputy head of
mission in Canberra, Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo, said on radio that he only
learned of the warning from the internet and had not been contacted by Australian
authorities.
The Department of Foreign Affairs contradicted the Indonesians. A spokeswoman said
the head of the political section of the Indonesian embassy in Canberra had been
informed the advisory was being released, and the Australian embassy in Jakarta had
briefed a range of contacts in the Indonesian Government before issuing the warning.
Later in the day the Indonesian embassy said officials had, in fact, been contacted by
Australia, and had taken appropriate measures about the warnings.
Indonesian police admitted yesterday Australian authorities had passed on
intelligence information warning of the new terrorist threat, after earlier insisting they
had not been told.
Brigadier-General Pranowo Dahlan, head of the Indonesian police anti-terrorism unit,
said his staff had told him of the threat only after he had spoken to the Herald
yesterday .
An Australian embassy spokeswoman in Jakarta said Australian authorities had told
the deputy Indonesian police commissioner, the Department of Foreign Affairs and
"relevant security officers".
But yesterday General Suyitno Landung, who is investigating the Australian embassy
bombing in September, said he had still not been informed of any new threat.
Mr Howard reacted strongly to the failure of some hotels in Indonesia to pass on the
warnings. "If that is the case, that is disappointing and not fair to their guests," he
said. The hotels had "an obligation to tell their guests".
But the Hilton Hotel Jakarta was still playing down the threat yesterday.
Despite the Australian ambassador, David Ritchie, personally visiting the hotel's
manager, Robert Ramsey, to warn of a possible bombing attack, Mr Ramsey refuses
to advise his guests of the threat for fear of creating panic. "They [Mr Ritchie]
mentioned the word Hilton, but he did not mention Hilton Jakarta," Mr Ramsey said.
He said he did not want to cause panic among his guests.
Foreign guests in Indonesia were divided on what to do about the warning yesterday,
with some preparing to leave and others more philosophical about the chances of
getting hurt in an attack. Mark, an Australian checking into the Jakarta Hilton, said: "If
I got to go, I got to go."
Last night the US issued a travel warning, joining Australia, Britain, Japan and New
Zealand.
Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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