Fresh travel warnings are unwise: Official<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta considers the issuance of fresh travel advisories from
\nthe United States, Australia and Britain an unwise decision and
\nregrets that the warnings were issued against Indonesia, an
\nofficial at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.<\/p>\n
Since the country had made progress in the Bali bombing case
\nand heightened security ahead of the holidays, the warnings would
\nbe counterproductive to the international cooperation against
\nterrorism, the ministry spokesman, Marty Natalegawa, said on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
\"In the absence of a specific threat that could be shared with
\nour officials, these travel advisories are unwise,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He further noted that his office had not yet received any
\ninformation behind the new advisories.<\/p>\n
\"No country in the world can provide a 100 percent guarantee
\nthat there won't be any attacks made, but our security officers
\nhave done their best to secure the country,\" he told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Similar criticism against the travel advisories also came from
\nHouse of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.<\/p>\n
Akbar said the reactions from the three countries were
\nunnecessary as there was no reason to issue the advisories.<\/p>\n
\"The advisories are unnecessary as our security officers have
\nbeen doing their best to stamp out terrorist organizations and
\nimprove security in the country,\" Akbar said in Surakarta,
\nCentral Java, as quoted by detik.com news portal on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said that terrorists could strike anywhere, even in the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
The U.S., Australia and Britain warned their citizens over the
\nweekend to exercise extreme caution during the upcoming end-of-
\nyear festivities in Indonesia, and advised them to avoid the
\ncountry if possible.<\/p>\n
In the new advisories, the three countries referred to the
\nstring of bomb attacks in 2000 at churches in 11 major cities as
\none of the major reasons for issuing the warning.<\/p>\n
The warning was made despite repeated calls from Indonesia
\nthat the call further crippled tourism, which slowed down
\ndramatically after the Oct. 12 Bali blasts.<\/p>\n
\"We fully understand the obligations of each country to ensure
\nthe safety of their citizens, but we should not bow to pressure
\nfrom terrorists and continue to live in fear,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Marty said Indonesia had done a lot of things to clamp down on
\nterrorists hiding in the country. The police, for instance, had
\narrested many suspects in the Bali bombings, as well as suspects
\nin the church bombings in 2000, he said.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, in the travel advisories, foreign countries
\nwarned their citizens about a possible backlash from hard-line
\nMuslims in Indonesia over the arrests of their leaders.<\/p>\n
\"It is unfair: If we don't arrest these perpetrators then
\nthese countries say terrorists are at large, but when we do
\narrest them, then they are afraid of a backlash,\" Marty said.<\/p>\n
Whatever the response from foreign countries, Marty said that
\nIndonesia would continue to search for suspects and ensure the
\ncountry was secure against any possible terrorist attacks.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fresh-travel-warnings-are-unwise-official-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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