Nervous Southeast Asia on high alert<\/p>\n
Dan Eaton, Reuters, Bangkok<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian countries are beefing up security at palm-fringed
\nresorts and popular city nightspots after the Bali bomb blasts
\nthat sent shockwaves through the region, officials said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
The weekend blasts outside a nightclub on the Indonesian
\nisland killed more than 180 people, raising fears the al-Qaeda
\nmilitant Islamic network, evicted from Afghanistan by the U.S.-
\nled war there, is regrouping in the region.<\/p>\n
Much of the new security is low-key to avoid frightening
\ntourists, but in some countries heavily armed police units have
\nbeen added to patrol embassies and airports.<\/p>\n
\"After the Bali incident, we are keeping a close eye on areas
\npopular with Western visitors,\" Thailand's Maj. Gen. Thirasak
\nNgaunbanchong of the Bangkok metropolitan police told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"Terrorists could disguise themselves as tourists,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Thailand, which got a record 10 million visitors last year,
\nhas increased police patrols on its popular southern islands of
\nPhuket and Samui, among the most popular destinations for Western
\nholidaymakers in the region after Bali.<\/p>\n
And new teams of police and plainclothes officers have been
\nadded to regular patrols of foreign embassies in Bangkok, the
\nbackpacker haven of Khaosan Road and the notorious Patpong Road,
\nbursting at the seams with go-go bars and nightclubs.<\/p>\n
\"All leave for my officers has been canceled for the next two
\nweeks. We're ready for aftershocks from the Bali incident,\"
\nTourist Police Commander Sanit Miphan told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Thailand's nervousness is mirrored throughout the region.
\nSecurity at many embassies, businesses and schools has been tight
\nsince last month's anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the
\nUnited States blamed on al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs, which is responsible for
\ndomestic security, said there was no specific threat to the
\nisland state, but that already high security would be maintained.<\/p>\n
In the Philippines, the army and police have announced a
\nheightened security alert since the Bali blasts.<\/p>\n
National police chief Gen. Hermogenes Ebdane said besides
\nembassies and airports, other potential targets being closely
\nwatched were shopping malls, hotels, bus terminals, harbors,
\npower plants and tourist resorts across the country.<\/p>\n
The number of police guarding the British Embassy in Manila
\nhas been doubled this week and black-uniformed police special
\nforces units have been deployed at Manila's international
\nairport, while a dozen bomb-sniffing dogs prowl the building.<\/p>\n
A Malaysian security official told Reuters that Indonesia and
\nthe Philippines were the major risk countries for further attacks
\nin the region and had been classified \"Priority One\".<\/p>\n
\"In Indonesia the local cells have been activated. Here and in
\nSingapore the local cells have been broken,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Malaysia and Singapore, where dozens of Islamic militants
\nwere rounded up in recent months, authorities had disrupted the
\nactivities of extremists, he said.<\/p>\n
But when security concerns rise, hoaxers appear, especially if
\nthere's a well known American name they can pick on.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, some 1,000 staff in the near-30 storey ExxonMobil
\noffice block in downtown Kuala Lumpur stood in the rain for two
\nhours after a bomb scare. Down the road, Malaysian police and
\nU.S. embassy officials combed a car park after another threat.<\/p>\n
Bomb scares have added to the nervousness of tourists still in
\nBali.<\/p>\n
A hotel in Kuta Beach received a bomb threat on Tuesday night
\nand police spent three hours searching before determining it was
\na hoax, a staff member told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Security has also been visibly stepped-up at various sites in
\nJakarta, including some hotels, with uniformed personnel manning
\nmetal detectors and checking building passes and identification.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nervous-southeast-asia-on-high-alert-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}