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.