71 nabbed in raids ahead of Asia-Africa summit

71 nabbed in raids ahead of Asia-Africa summit

Abdul Khalik
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

City police have arrested 71 people in various raids throughout
the city over the last week in an effort to ensure security at
the Asia-Africa Summit from April 22 to April 24.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said on Wednesday
that the raids were intended to eliminate all possible dangers
and make the participants feel safe before and during the
conference.

"All of them were arrested at separate locations in Jakarta
for carrying weapons, firearms and drugs. Around 52 people were
found carrying sharp weapons, 2 carrying guns and the remainder
in possession of drugs," said Tjiptono.

He said that the police would continue to conduct similar
raids until all the state guests returned home on April 25.

A total of 24,701 personnel will guard the conference. Police
are deploying 10,854 personnel while the remainder come from the
TNI and city administration.

All the participants will be heavily guarded right from the
moment they land at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in
Cengkareng or at Halim Perdanakusumah airport in East Jakarta.

Soekarno-Hatta airport will be guarded by 192 personnel while
the Halim Perdanakusumah airport will be protected by 162
personnel.

The route from Soekarno-Hatta to the Hilton, and from Halim
Perdanakusumah to the Hilton will be guarded by 206 and 356
personnel respectively.

Tjiptono said the police had identified at least six security
threats during the conference, including terror and bomb attacks,
food and electricity sabotage and street rallies.

"It is possible that the terrorists could launch more bomb
attacks as we have not yet captured two of the masterminds,
Azhari and Noordin Moh Top. That's why we have our bomb squad on
alert to clear up any bomb threats," he said.

Azahari and Noordin, both Malaysian fugitives, were believed
to have masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202
people, the JW Marriott Hotel attack, which claimed 12 lives, and
the recent bombing outside the Australian embassy.

Tjiptono said Jakarta would be on full alert from April 15
until the end of the summit.

Around 60 bomb squad personnel will guard the Hilton Hotel and
Mulia Hotel, where different events are scheduled to take place,
while the same number of security personnel would patrol
perimeter areas.

He said that during the conference police would also increase
security at certain embassy buildings, including the U.S.,
Japanese, Australian and Chinese Embassies.

Tjiptono said the Australian Embassy was now being guarded by
47 police personnel while the U.S Embassy was being protected by
18 personnel.

He added that analysis by police intelligence suggested that
street rallies could pose a serious threat to the summit as
several groups of people would try to internationalize local
issues, including the fuel price increase and the Ambalat
dispute.

"This is an opportunity for particular groups to raise their
concerns with the international community. We have assigned
experts on crowd control and negotiation so that we can contain
and localize the effects of any rallies," said Tjiptono.