Americans advised to leave Indonesia

Americans advised to leave Indonesia

Agencies, Washington/Jakarta

The U.S. State Department late on Sunday urged all U.S.
citizens in Indonesia to leave the country and ordered the
departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel from the
country.

The department also warned U.S. citizens to defer travel to
Indonesia.

"The bombing of a nightclub and another in the vicinity of our
consular agency in Bali, Indonesia, along with the current
security situation within Indonesia puts U.S. citizens and U.S.
interests at risk," said a travel warning issued by the
department.

A State Department official said two Americans were killed and
three were injured following the blasts, which rocked two
nightclubs in Bali's Kuta and left 183 people killed and more
than 300 injured.

The vast majority of the casualties were foreign patrons of
popular Bali nightspots.

The State Department urged Americans who have to travel to or
remain in Indonesia to exercise maximum caution and take prudent
measures such as avoiding crowds and demonstrations and keeping a
low profile.

It also said U.S. citizens in Indonesia should avoid political
demonstrations that "can quickly turn violent."

Meanwhile in Jakarta, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda said on Monday he had heard such orders, but said that
there was so far no final decision on the matter, pending further
deliberation.

Nevertheless, any decision on that matter would be all up to
the embassy, he said.

"On that matter, we leave it all to the embassy to judge. Of
course on our part, we will do whatever we can still handle,
including providing tighter security.

"But in a situation like this, each embassy can make their own
evaluation on the possibility of scaling down the number of its
citizens or non-essential staff," Hassan told reporters after a
meeting with foreign diplomats.

Despite the attendance of more than 100 foreign diplomats, the
meeting failed to lure the U.S. ambassador to the country to turn
up. The Australian and British ambassadors were also among those
absent from the meeting.

The deadly attacks on the country's most famous resort island,
previously regarded as a safe haven for holidaymakers, has
prompted international leaders to raise concerns over the safety
of their citizens staying in the country.

The U.S., even before the attacks, had a number of times
temporarily closed its embassy for fear of terrorist attacks.