Bomb threats rattle two foreign offices<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Canadian embassy and the office of Singapore
\nAirlines received phoned-in bomb threats in the space of two
\nhours on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Although the threats turned out to be hoaxes, they were the
\nfirst to target foreign offices in the wave of terrorization
\nleveled at many properties across the city.<\/p>\n
The embassy and airline office are located in office buildings
\non a few hundred meters apart on Jl. Sudirman, a major city
\nthoroughfare.<\/p>\n
A threat was conveyed at about 1 p.m. to the embassy on the
\nfifth floor of 18-story Wisma Metropolitan I, which is part of
\nthe trio of buildings in the World Trade center complex.<\/p>\n
Singapore Airlines, located on the second floor of 26-floor
\nChase Plaza, received a threat at 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
According to the embassy's political counselor Rene Cremonese,
\na male caller made the threat to receptionist Yulia.<\/p>\n
\"The caller, speaking in Bahasa Indonesia, simply said that he
\nhad placed a bomb in the embassy,\" Cremonese told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
The embassy contacted the National Police's Gegana bomb squad
\nand conveyed the threat to the building's management, PT Jakarta
\nLand, he added.<\/p>\n
A group of 10 security guards from the building management
\ninspected the embassy and several other suspect areas in the
\nbuilding, one of the guards said.<\/p>\n
Many employees in the building panicked after they heard the
\narrival of the Gegana squad, heralded by loud sirens, recalled
\nthe guard, who asked to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n
\"But we managed to calm down the people, saying there was no
\nbomb in the building.\"<\/p>\n
He regretted the embassy's decision to report the threat to
\nthe bomb squad.<\/p>\n
\"The security guards here have been trained to handle bombs,\"
\nhe said, without discussing the training or any bomb detection
\ndevices at their disposal.<\/p>\n
Cremonese said the embassy received a similar bomb hoax two
\nyears ago.<\/p>\n
Woman voice<\/p>\n
The airline scare was different from previous bomb threats
\nbecause the caller was a woman.<\/p>\n
\"One of the airline's reservation staff, Sumi, said the woman
\nhad a Chinese accent, telling her that she had placed a bomb on
\nthe second floor where the airline office is located,\" the
\nofficer, who requested anonymity, said.<\/p>\n
After combing part of the floor and the building, Gegana squad
\nofficers declared the property safe and that there was no bomb.<\/p>\n
Several skyscrapers, shopping centers, private and state
\noffices and even a hospital in the capital have been victims of
\nbomb threats, all subsequently revealed to be hoaxes, in the past
\nthree months.<\/p>\n
Recent threats included a written message onboard a Garuda
\nIndonesia flight from Bali; a phoned-in threat to state-run Cipto
\nMangunkusumo General Hospital; a scare at the city's tallest
\nbuilding, Wisma BNI tower, and a threat made against state-run
\nRadio Republik Indonesia (RRI).<\/p>\n
On Monday, similar threats terrified employees at the Bank
\nDagang Negara (BDN) building on Jl. Samanhudi and privately run
\nBank SGP's office on Jl. Sudirman, both in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Attorney General Office's in South Jakarta
\nreceived a threat.<\/p>\n
Separately, the Central Jakarta police announced on Tuesday
\nthe discovery of a \"cookie tin\" believed to contain explosives at
\nCipto Mangunkusumo.<\/p>\n
According to detective chief Maj. Budiono Sandi, the tin, with
\na note stating \"contains nitrogen\", will be examined by the
\nGegana squad at its laboratory. (jun\/emf)<\/p>",
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