Manado warns travel warning retracted<\/p>\n
MANADO, North Sulawesi (JP): Provincial police chief Brig.
\nGen. Erald Dotulong wants the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to retract
\nits travel warning which advises American citizens against
\nvisiting the province on the grounds of alleged threats posed by
\nthe Philippine Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group.<\/p>\n
The travel warning, as reported by local daily Manado Post
\nlast week, advises U.S. citizens not to visit Maluku, Irian Jaya
\nor Central Sulawesi for security reasons. It also warns U.S.
\ncitizens against visiting North Sulawesi, an Indonesian province
\nthat shares a border with the Philippines, where the Abu Sayyaf
\ngroup has subjected U.S. citizens to abduction and intimidation.<\/p>\n
Dotulong regretted the issuance of the travel warning,
\ndismissing it as groundless as the province had never been of any
\ninterest to Abu Sayyaf terrorists or Moro separatists under the
\nMindanao National Liberation Front (MNLF).<\/p>\n
\"I hope the U.S. Embassy will review and perhaps retract its
\nincorrect statement about North Sulawesi,\" he said, adding that
\ndespite several attempts, he had yet to get through to the U.S.
\nEmbassy to clarify the matter.<\/p>\n
He said he would be happy to see the U.S. Embassy assign some
\nof its people to check the actual situation in the province.<\/p>\n
While it is true that North Sulawesi's Minggas island in
\nSangihe Talaud district shares a border with the Philippines, the
\narea is virtually free from the influence of the Abu Sayyaf and
\nthe MNLF as the border area is invariably tightly patrolled by
\nlocal police and the Navy, he noted.<\/p>\n
In 2000, police raided the island and seized 20 rifles
\nsmuggled in from the Philippines, he said, adding that the rifles
\nhad no connection whatsoever to any Philippine terrorist group.
\nIn Cebu in the south of the Philippines, for example, guns are
\nwidely made as household products and smuggled to many places, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Philippine consul general for Manado, Ronaldo
\nMartines, was unavailable for comment on the matter. (48)<\/p>",
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