3,215 officers to secure IPU

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Nurfaizi said on Thursday the police would deploy 3,215 officers to secure the upcoming Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference scheduled to begin here on Sunday.

"Most of the security personnel will come from the city police," Nurfaizi said at Jakarta Police Headquarters following a ceremony marking the final security preparations for the conference.

"But some 880 of the personnel will come from the Indonesian Military," he said.

The week-long 104th IPU conference is due to be opened by President Abdurrahman Wahid on Sunday and is expected to be attended by 1,400 representatives of 138 parliaments and legislatures from around the world.

Nurfaizi said the security personnel would be assigned to various areas in the city, including the People's Consultative Assembly/House of Representatives (MPR/DPR) complex, the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) and the hotels of the delegation members.

Jakarta Police spokesman Supt. Muhammad Nur Haji Usman earlier said the police had declared an initial-stage (third-stage alert) condition in the capital beginning on Sunday, a move meant to anticipate possible disturbances during the conference. (jaw)