Police ready to rescue foreigners<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Police have prepared contingency
\nplans to rescue foreigners in the capital should the situation
\ntake a turn for the worse amid the increasing anti-American
\nsentiment in the country.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters after receiving 20 diplomats at his
\noffice, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb promised
\nthat the police would take all necessary action to safeguard
\nforeigners in Jakarta, especially foreign diplomats.<\/p>\n
He noted that currently he was prioritizing the safety of
\nforeign ambassadors and their residences here.<\/p>\n
Currently, he said, the police were deploying a total of 14
\ncompanies of policemen to safeguard foreign assets in the city.<\/p>\n
One company consists of around 100 personnel.<\/p>\n
\"We have agreed to establish safe refuges where they can be
\nevacuated to should something really happen,\" Sofjan told
\njournalists after the meeting.<\/p>\n
Sofjan refused to reveal the whereabouts of the refuges, but
\nJakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said that
\none of the locations would be Jakarta Police headquarters.<\/p>\n
Anton said that the police's contingency plan included ways
\nof picking up expatriates from their embassies or homes and
\ntaking them to the refuges or escorting them to the airport.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, British Ambassador Richard Gozney, the only
\nambassador who attended Friday's meeting, said after it that the
\npolice had promised to crack down on those who were intimidating
\nforeigners.<\/p>\n
\"We have received a promise from the Jakarta Police chief that
\nthey will act firmly against those who carry out acts of
\nintimidation such as conducting sweeps, mass violence and the
\nlike. We appreciate the promise. And we hope that nothing will
\nhappen, but if something happens, we hope that the Jakarta Police
\nwill fulfill their promise,\" Gozney said in Indonesian.<\/p>\n
U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert S. Gelbard, who on
\nThursday strongly criticized the police over their failure to act
\nagainst those threatening Americans, skipped the meeting.<\/p>\n
Instead, Gelbard went to the House of Representatives to meet
\nwith the members of House Commission I for defense and foreign
\npolicy.<\/p>\n
Gelbard, however, declined to speak to the press either before
\nor after the closed-door meeting.<\/p>\n
Commission I chairman Ibrahim Ambong said that at the meeting,
\nGelbard had complained about the increasing threats against
\nAmericans.<\/p>\n
Gelbard, according to Ambong, also warned that threats against
\nforeigners would backfire on the country's investment climate.<\/p>\n
\"Eight American companies have threatened to relocate their
\noperations overseas and many others will follow suit if the
\nsecurity situation remains uncertain,\" he quoted Gelbard as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
Anti-American sentiment has been on the rise in Indonesia
\nfollowing the U.S. government's threat to launch military strikes
\nagainst Afghanistan, which has refused to hand over Osama bin
\nLaden, the prime suspect in the recent devastating attacks on the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
Anti-American demonstrations against possible American
\nretaliation have been coloring Jakarta and other cities across
\nthe country in recent days.<\/p>\n
Not only that, a number of hard-line groups, including the
\nIslam Defenders Front, have threatened to drive Americans out of
\nthe country should the U.S. attack Afghanistan. Some militant
\ngroup members even conducted a search for Americans in a number
\nof hotels in Surakarta, Central Java.<\/p>\n
The U.S. consul general in Surabaya, Robert A. Pallard, met
\nwith Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. MA Erwin in Semarang on
\nFriday to seek police protection for around 200 Americans living
\nin Central Java, including Surakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The Surakarta incident has made some Americans in Central
\nJava nervous. A number of them have even moved from that town to
\nother towns,\" Pallard said.<\/p>\n
Vice President Hamzah Haz said here on Friday that \"there is
\nno serious threat to the security of U.S. interests here.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile from Tokyo, foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda said
\nthat U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called him on Friday
\nmorning to express concern over rising security threats against
\nAmericans in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I explained to him the situation ... And we are serious in
\nhandling the situation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had instructed
\nCoordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono to take all necessary action to prevent
\nnervousness among foreigners.<\/p>\n
After chairing a ministerial meeting, Susilo said the
\ngovernment would not tolerate any threats against foreign
\ncitizens here, but he failed to identify what measures the
\ngovernment would take against the hard-line groups that had been
\nthreatening foreigners, particularly Americans. (team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-ready-to-rescue-foreigners-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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