Stop white powder hoaxes: Indonesia<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government is getting fed up with the seemingly
\nendless deliveries of white powder to its representative offices
\nin Australia, and has urged local police to be \"more serious\" in
\nprobing the matters, a senior official has said.<\/p>\n
Marty Natalegawa, a foreign ministry spokesman, said the
\nIndonesian embassy in Canberra received its latest package of
\nwhite powder on Thursday. The mail had disrupted the embassy's
\nactivity for a time before police confirmed that the white powder
\nwas a benign substance.<\/p>\n
He said the embassy had previously received three mails
\ncontaining white powder, all of which were confirmed as harmless
\nby the local police. He, however, could not recall how many
\nenvelopes of white powder Indonesian consulates in other parts of
\nAustralia had received.<\/p>\n
The embassy got its first powder delivery on June 1, which was
\nlater deemed harmless by police. Australian officials speculated
\nthat there was probably a link between the white powder hoaxes
\nand the controversial conviction of Australian woman Schappele
\nCorby for drug smuggling in Bali in late May.<\/p>\n
On June 7 and June 22, the embassy received more white powder
\nenvelopes. On the latter occasion, packets were also received by
\nIndonesian consulates all over Australia.<\/p>\n
\"Our embassy and consulates receive white powder packets
\nalmost incessantly and we feel it has become a nuisance. We have
\nheard that Australia (police) has been trying to find the senders
\nand we would love to hear about progress (in the
\ninvestigations),\" Marty told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"These events may create a bad impression for Australia. How
\ndo you explain the fact that there is an investigation underway
\nbut white powder mails are still coming? We will ask the
\nAustralian government to be more serious in finding the
\nperpetrators and the motives to prevent such things from
\nrecurring,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He said the white powder hoaxes should not cause diplomats
\nserving in Australia to loosen their vigilance. \"This is
\nsomething that we have to be aware of,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian foreign ministry in Central Jakarta was also
\ntargeted by a prankster, who sent a packet of white powder to the
\nministry on June 24 with an accompanying letter describing the
\nact as \"just for fun\". The police later confirmed that the
\npowder, which was sent using an Australian postal stamp, was
\ntapioca.<\/p>\n
The Australian embassy in Indonesia apologized last month for
\nthe continuous deliveries of white powder and gave assurances
\nabout the safety of Indonesians living in Australia.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government has equipped its embassy and
\nconsulates in Australia with a special device to scan incoming
\nletters for security. -- Ivy Susanti<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stop-white-powder-hoaxes-indonesia-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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